All Sorts of Caring
by Kerstae
Summary: AU Season 1. Logan POV of season one and a few additional scenes I added which were non-cannon. Pretty much the Echolls side of falling in love with one Veronica Mars.
1. Chapter 1

The drive to Neptune High school had been full of the usual awkward silence with Duncan Kane, his deceased girlfriend's younger brother and his best friend. Normally Logan Echolls could get some monosyllabic bits of comments on the odd topic, or the occasional laugh out of him but he had been increasingly withdrawn lately since school had started up again, and Logan had a pretty good idea why. Classes starting again at Neptune High after the long hot summer meant there would be the likelihood that they would have to deal with _Her_ again.

God he really hated her… Logan thought as he watched the familiar black convertible roll into the space opposite the school bus. The daughter of the former local Sheriff, and Logan Echolls personal black spot in the Universe… Veronica Mars.

He watched as she pulled her brown bag out of the passenger seat and tucked a few loose strands of her ridiculously short blond hair behind her ear. It didn't always used to look this way… it used to fall in beautiful golden strands right down her back but she had chopped it all off before Christmas last term a few days after Shelley Pomoroys Party and with it, her preppy school look had given way to the rebellious, DM boot clad, combat jeans preferring, leather jacket wearing teenage sleuth of Neptune High.

He should feel a little grateful he supposed that she had decided to embrace the change in their relationship status as drastically as she had. Watching her walk around campus looking like the broken hearted girl who had been Lilly Kane's best friend had made it so much harder to hate her like he had. Now she dressed like an outcast and generally stayed away from the 09ers at all. Dealing with the conflicting feelings of protectiveness and love for his friend.. and the anger he felt when he blamed her for betraying him and helping to create the circumstances that led to Lilly's death had been weighing him down. It had gotten easier though after her father Keith Mars had let the crime scene video of his dead girlfriend go viral and get plastered all over the internet… the thought of what his friend Duncan and the Kane family had had to endure as the world and its tabloids speculated on the images of the worst moment of their lives had solidified his resolve to get back at him the only way available to him. By punishing Veronica for her fathers mistakes.

Isn't that what you did when someone screwed up even when they didn't mean to? Perhaps this was a sadistic side effect of his fathers influence, but truthfully, Logan didn't want to probe too much into the reasons why. She had abandoned him… abandoned Duncan in their hour of need… she deserved whatever he could throw at her.

"Hey Man… you want to get Starbucks before school?" Logan asked as he waited to see if Duncan was going to notice Veronica yet.

He barely even replied, Logan narrowed his eyes as he saw Veronica walking across the car park. Fine if Duncan wouldn't wake up on his own, perhaps he needed a little prodding? Logan mused.

He pushed the car into gear and pulled up alongside her.

"Heey Ronnie!" he smirked, watching the tension build in her shoulders, the grimace she tried to hid before she pulled on that hardened look she gave him most of the time lately. The summer had been an eventful one, him and the other 09ers would get drunk occasionally and go play pranks by ordering food to her house when they knew her father was away, or by writing things on her car windshield or advertising her number whenever they got a hold of it in local Adult Classified ads. "A bunch of us were thinking of skipping school today to go surfing down the beach do you wanna Cum?" he said suggestively much to the amusement of Luke, Sean and Tad in the back.

She tried to ignore him and walk on.

"Hey hey.. look Duncan will promise to take his shirt off does that sweeten the pot for ya?" he continued, rewarded this time by her stopping to glare at him sullenly. "That make you horny?" He looked over his shoulder.. still no response, Duncan had turned to look out the other window. "Hey DK.. you got some Fudge for your Ex?" he asked.

"That's enough man" Duncan snapped.

"Alright.. alright.." Logan relented, but he was glad he had woken him up a little. It was the most he had said in the last three days. Now it was time to stick it to her for some fun. "Hey… what you say to a little hooch?" he teased, reaching her the hip flask that usually sat beside him in the car… it was empty, he wasn't stupid enough to get caught with alcohol in his car, but she didn't know that. "Whats the matter aren't you your Mothers Daughter?" he taunted. It was well known that Lianne Mars's hidden drinking problem in the months since Lilly Kane had been murdered and had become an open secret in Neptune, her mother had left town several months ago, and Veronica hadn't seen her since. If he was going to hurt her… might as well do it right eh?

She gave him her full attention now, a brief instant of pain flickered behind her indifferent Fuck You mask and he sneered in satisfaction. "Now THERE was a woman who could drink…" Logan mused. "Where is she.. maybe she could join us?" he said suggestively, getting a snigger from his companions in the back. "Do you know where she is? Do you have any clue?" he taunted. He would push that flicker until it became a spark until he saw tears if he had to.

"I said leave her alone Man" Duncan snarled and grabbed his arm. Finally… a response. Welcome back to planet Earth DK… even if I had to make a trip around Mars to get it.

"Alright DK.. I was only playing.. chill pill man" he laughed. Duncan glanced briefly at Veronica and then back out his side of the car. Yep.. this was probably about as much interaction as he would get out of him this morning.

"Ack" he said rolling his eyes as he noticed Veronica's disappointed little look as she watched Duncan ignore her again. "You used to be fun…" he taunted as he hit the gas and drove them back towards Starbucks. He hated her… whatever she had done to make Duncan break up with her, had meant he was trying to navigate this grief alone while she ran off around the school playing Nancy Drew and he was trying to pick up the pieces of his best friend after the murder of his sister.

Duncan still wouldn't tell him what had happened, but it must have been pretty bad because he refused to acknowledge she existed most of the time. He shot Dick Casablanca's off a text.

"If she's so full of Hot Air.. she doesn't need as much in her tires" he mused.

Dick responded with a thumbs up emoji. Welcome back to School Bitch… its going to be a very long year for you he thought as he admired her ass in her jeans.


	2. Chapter 2

Veronica had gotten used to the weight of her backpack recently, the few times she had used her assigned locker for the last few days, there were things vandalized in it. She really hated this school, the smell of orange soda was still coming from her Edgar Allen Poe novel for her advanced English class. She was regretting not taking her father up on the offer of transferring this year to Pam High, about 15 miles outside of Neptune, but honestly, she knew what their finances were like these days, they couldn't afford the gas money, and it would mean she would have less time to help out around the Mars Investigations Office. She was tired, her stake out last night had taken too long and she had just finished her calculus test last period, it was a good thing she smart with numbers naturally, because she really wanted to try her hand at graduating from this slice of hell early if she could manage it.

The only thing keeping her at Neptune High was the Kane Scholarship these days. After her father Keith Mars had lost her job as Sheriff, she was going to need all the help she could get. Catching cheating spouses and bail jumpers wasn't exactly the most lucrative, they always had to be careful, something the 09ers delighted in reminding her about. She had opened her locker this morning to find a scribbled list of sexual positions and price tags beside them and said to meet them in the boys locker room if she was interested. She felt sick to her stomach. She knew who was probably behind this… psychotic jackass.

Veronica distracted herself by going over the financial records of a potential missing person case that had been left in her office last night. Multi-tasking was fast becoming a talent of hers, but at Lunch time… there wasn't really anyplace to hide. She stared angrily across the food court at Logan Echolls as he paid for the pizza him and his Pirate Point loving buddy's had. Turned out Logan could run pretty well, if he had applied himself he could have made the school track team, but assholes like Logan didn't have to try. Not when his daddy made $20 million a picture.

It didn't always used to be this way… she used to sit with them, they used to laugh and joke together. In fact, Veronica and Logan had used to keep each other more entertained during their lunch hour than their partners, the Kane siblings. This would have been Lilly's Senior year. It actually would have been her birthday this week.

"You okay?" Wallace Fennel, the new kid who she had cut down from the flag pole this morning asked.

"What?" she said reflexively harsh as she broke out of her spell. Logan had been making an obscene gesture about reaching his hand down towards his crotch.

"You just looked a bit.. I dunno… lost for a second" he observed. Veronica wasn't used to anyone paying much attention to her anymore.

"Did I say you could sit here?" she snarled.

"Okay…" he said, picking up his lunch bag.

"Wait… I'm sorry… sit wherever you want" she smiled weakly.

"They bothering you?" he asked but he was interrupted by Weevil Navarro.

"My Bitch… weren't you supposed to wait for me at the flag pole?" Weevil snarled.

Logan watched from his seat up at the table, the normally empty Veronica Table was now surrounded by half of the schools local Pacific Highway Club gang. He watched angrily as she interrupted Weevil, his housekeepers grandson from harassing a new kid who Logan didn't know. Sure… she could interfere for a stranger in something that had nothing to do with her, but she wouldn't reign in her father when he had been trying to destroy the Kane family?

He strained to listen to her quick retorts but couldn't really hear much over the sound of Weevil laughing, she must have said something funny. He dropped his Pizza, losing his appetite as he realised that she was wearing the necklace that Lilly had bought her today.

Lilly… it would have been her birthday this week. He had been trying not to think about it, he had done so well a job he had actually almost forgotten. No wonder Duncan had seemed so withdrawn. Mr Clemmons broke up whatever little sparring match had been going on and Veronica continued her lunch with her new…. Friend? Boyfriend? He would have to get some of the other guys to tell him that she was bad news.. what rumour should they start off with this week?

He was glad at the end of the day when he got to howl in laughter as she realized that someone had taken the jack out of her car and she had to try and convince one of the janitors to allow her to take one from the Autoshop to help her change the flat tire. She had been pretty angry, she had looked right at him this time.

 _That's right Princess… That's what you get for wearing that Necklace…_

Dinner at home that night had been the usual "Don't wait up son" but at least he didn't have to deal with his parents when he was feeling this heartbroken. He had taken the pictures out of the box of Lilly tonight and sobbed as he looked over all the memories that he couldn't even enjoy anymore. He stopped as he got to the one of the Homecoming dance… the four of them smiling and happy. It felt like another life. Like it had all happened to someone else. He may be surrounded by people all day… but Logan had never felt more alone than he did right now. He played with the pukka shell necklace that Lilly had bought for him and put it on, his hand lingered a little longer over Veronica's face in the picture than he meant to. Duncan might as well have died that day.. he walked and he talked and he sounded like Duncan… but there was no one home. Not anymore. Only one other person knew how he was feeling this week… and he hated her.

He crawled into bed and began trying to think other ways he could distract himself this week. The orange soda in her Locker had barely phased her… she was getting immune to his tactics. He would have to consult with Dick tomorrow, get some inspiration.

"Logan.. when I'm gone, you guys have to look after each other" Lilly had giggled referring to what Colleges she was going to be applying to for next year, while she had dragged him starving around the Mall with Veronica last year, she had been looking for pieces to test drive her Senior Year Look. But a few months later… her body had been found at the Kane Mansion lying dead in the back yard near her pool. A disgruntled former Kane software employee, Abel Koontz had broken in and killed the love of his life.

 _Yes Veronica… we were supposed to look after each other until you turned on me!_ He thought angrily.

Her father was really the most incompetent law professional ever… he had hounded Jake Kane relentless and yet he hadn't even figured out that Logan had been in Neptune that day… her faith in the man had been misplaced. He was useless. That shot glass? The note in her car… and Logan hadn't even been questioned once officially other than giving a false alibi that Dick and Beaver had suggested. It wouldn't have looked good, and his dad would have beaten him senseless had he known his 16 year old son had left Tijuana alone to drive back to Neptune across the border.

He dreamt of Lilly that night.. of all of them on the beach, of her curled in his lap, the champagne on her tongue. Of the single most last perfect night that he could remember. It shifted to them in the back of the Limo and him daring her to kiss someone in the back of the car because she had been sitting so far away from him… she had surprised him by turning to kiss Veronica instead, much to his amusement at Duncan's horror… but then the narrative changed this time and instead of Lilly curling up into his lap to kiss him.. it was Veronica who shifted over into his lap… it was her perfect mouth that touched his lips.. it was her soft sighs that whispered against his ear as he began to slide his hands along her dress and kissed her neck.. "Oh Logan…" she said as the dream progressed to her unzipping his tux pants and lifting her dress to straddle him, burying him inside her petite body.

Logan awoke in horror, sweating and feeling disgusted with guilt… his heart was racing and he was angry with himself when he woke to find himself hard and eager.

What the hell was Veronica Mars doing in his dreams?

 _Yes… the bitch was going to get something special tomorrow._


	3. Chapter 3

Logan hadn't been able to take his eyes off her most of the morning, she was tired, good so was he. Sleep hadn't come easily to him after that dream and he had left early this morning to go and hit the beach with Dick before school. The morning tides this time of year usually produced some decent waves, he had seen her walking that pit-bull of hers this morning as she had ran along the beach.

 _Was there no place that she considered sacred?_ The beach was his territory, no hers.

Dick and Beaver had told that Fennel kid all sorts of rumours about her yesterday afternoon again after the ones that Luke and Sean had told him obviously hadn't worked. Scare off any and all potential suitors, it was the mandate of his little gang. Kaitlin had wanted to get breakfast this morning, and they had made out in his car before lessons had started… but he couldn't stop the thoughts that the blond hair in his hands was too long… it was the wrong shade… the bleached kind, not the natural golden locks that had tormented his dreams last night.

He had been furious when he saw them both together at lunch today again. Didn't he know that Veronica Mars was off-limits? She was trouble… and he intended to send her running from Neptune High so he never had to look at her again.

Most of the afternoon had passed by in a blur, Duncan still hadn't been speaking to him and he was waiting on Dick to come by with that paint bomb that he had Cassidy rig up last night so they could plant it into her boot after school when he got a note from Vice Principle Clemmons that it was his turn to have his locker searched. These "exercises" were tedious, but at least it got him out of AP Biology.

Bored he twisted his combination into the locker and stood aside.

"There ya go" he sighed and leaned back to hear the usual, okay get back to class.

"What do we have here Logan?" the older educator asked as he reached inside the Locker. "It appears to be a device for smoking marijuana" Clemmons said as he reached for it. Logan felt his stomach clench, _Oh no… how the hell could something like this have happened? What was going on?_

He looked around in confusion, as the deputy and Mr Clemmons began to talk about heading back to the office and then he saw her. Veronica, peeking around the corner like a little Meerkat giggling with her new friend. _His dad would kill him for this… if this ended up in the paper…_

She looked at him in satisfaction and gave him a smug happy grin.

 _How could she have done something like to him? The bitch!_

"Look I know it was you!" he snarled, pointing at her.

Me? She gestured, flashing her eyebrows. "This isn't over" he promised.

 _Oh she would pay for this…._

"Okay Mr Echolls.. just head towards the office" Mr Clemmons said as Deputy Sacks began to push him down the corridor.

"Oh Look… you think your so cute… Listen I'll get you for this… I will" he promised mockingly as she yawned _. Oh yes Veronica Mars… you are going to pay for this…._

Veronica was happy that for the next few days at least, Logan's suspension meant she might be having less original Mishaps around the school. She went with Wallace after school and the plan went off without a hitch, the dummy bong had smoked up a storm in the evidence locker at the Sheriffs department and Fire Marshall Sanders had come through for her big time. No more Sac-n-Pac video… no more PCHers after Wallace. It didn't hurt she managed to get her own back on Logan for all the "delightful" pranks he had been doing to welcome her back to school for the year. She had dinner with her dad at the Mars Office and headed down to the beach to see Wallace for some much needed recreational time. Especially after she had just caught her father lying to her about those car plates outside the Camelot Motel.. they had belonged to her mother. She had just finished serving up Sheriff Lamb a slice of cold fuck you as well today when she had snuck into the courtroom to see the video she had swapped ruin his court case.

Logan had been suspended for almost a week, and his dad had spent almost two hours kicking him around the room in all the places he was careful not to leave bruises for the many cameras to see. He would still have to wear long sleeved shirts for the next few weeks though to hide defensive bruising on his arms from when he had been trying to block the belt along his ribs.

His dad had taken his car away as well.

"Since you won't be going to school… you won't have need of a car to be going anywhere" he had snarled.

 _She was going to pay for this… not later… no elaborate pranks.. today._

"Hey Dominic.. you think you could borrow your Mom's car? I have a little present I need to give a friend of mine down at the beach" he asked as he looked at the tire iron in his garage.

If he hadn't been given such a beating for it, he would have been impressed… getting caught for possession, which was one he hadn't thought of yet. But this time? No this time he wanted her to know the trouble with her car came directly from him.

He had been avoiding Aaron Echolls for almost a month and had managed to go by mostly unnoticed until he was due to go off filming on location next week… and now her little trick had put Logan at the front and centre of the mans attention. She had been flirting up a storm with that Fennel kid and his mechanical plane when they had finally found her parked alongside the beach.

"Hey… Veronica Mars" he smiled venomously as she cautiously approached her car and he lay sprawled on the hood on his back. He couldn't quite shake the thought right away that he would have happily stayed there if she wanted to climb on top of him. It only fuelled his anger.

He jumped up and gave her a grin… he would wipe that smug look off her face.

"You any idea what your little joke cost me?" he snarled.

"Well I am pretty sure you won't be getting your bong back" she smiled, her response infuriated him. He turned and smacked the tire iron against the car and smashed the headlight.

"Wrong.. want to try again?" he snapped.

"Clearly your sense of humour" she retorted and he smashed in the other headlight.

"Wrong answer…" he mused as he watched her look despairingly at the damage to her car. That was it… that was the response he wanted. "Nope… the correct answer is.. my car" Logan said.

 _And about two hours of beatings but that's only the start of it…_ he thought bitterly.

"My Daddy took my T bird away…. And you know what I won't be having?" he said as he approached her, using his taller size to intimidate her as she stood with her arms folded around her staring at him. "Fun fun fun…"

Although… standing so close to her, those lips parted slightly in shock, that little quiver of fear in her eyes.. the smell of her perfume… he could think of a lot of ways she could help him have fun.

 _She was still wearing that necklace… How did they get here?_ He wondered. She looked so damn kissable…

He was just about to suggest to Dominic that they get back into the car, he was angry with her but he wasn't a total asshole when Paul had called out his name.

Logan turned to see several members of the PCH biker gang pulling up alongside Veronica's car, Weevil Navarro got off his bike and before he knew what he was doing, Logan had instinctively walked out several steps to greet them, putting himself between them and Veronica. He might be mad at her… but he wasn't just going to stand by and watch if someone hurt her.

"What do we have here?" Weevil mused. "Vandalism?" he asked as he looked at the car and then back to Logan.

"Listen man… I don't have a problem with you" Logan told him.

"That's where you are wrong" he said, yanking the tire iron from Logans hand and going and bashing in the headlights on Dominic and Pauls mothers car instead. "Any vandalism in this town, goes through me" Weevil sneered before tossing the tire iron at Paul. "Head for the hills"

Logan watched as the other PCHers intimidated his friends back into the car.

"Except for you.. you say you are sorry" he said pointing at Logan. He cast a brief glance at Veronica… no way.

"Pfft rub a lamp" he sneered before he was punched in the stomach. It winded him because it was angled perfectly against the bruising left by his fathers lashes earlier.

"I said say you are sorry.." Weevil growled as he stumbled on the pavement, standing he glanced at his blond obsession for her reaction and turned back to Weevil. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

"Kiss my ass!" Logan said before Weevil punched him square in the jaw, he felt something crack this time. Not even his father hit him in the face, it had him a little unsteady and he landed back on the pavement again.

 _Shit that hurt…._

"Let him go…" Veronica ordered. **_Now_** _she gave a shit if someone was beating him? Little did she know._

"Are you sure? Because I could do this for a while" Weevil retorted eagerly.

"I don't want his apology" she said as he finally made eye contact with her again.

 _Good Princess… because you wouldn't be getting one.._ Logan thought angrily.

He rubbed the blood from his nose and couldn't think of anything more to say to either of them so he stumbled back to Pauls car and they raced off back to his house.

 _Why had she interfered?_ He asked himself as he sipped on the scotch in his room. He was now grounded from leaving the house at all until the swelling went down. He wouldn't be allowed to go leave flowers on Lillys grave tomorrow, and it was her birthday. This was all Veronica's fault, and he knew it wouldnt stop another night of dreaming about her.

Veronica Mars had decided that there was no better day than any other to use the combination and break into her fathers safe. It was the eve of Lillys birthday… and if she couldn't get her friend a present anymore.. then the least she could do was attempt to catch her killer.


	4. Chapter 4

Veronica had just left the guidance counsellors office, she hated shrinks, and the guidance counsellor was just a cheaper version of the guy her mother had sent her to for grief counselling. She hated talking about her feelings.

"Join more clubs.. you are socially isolating yourself and if you don't seem to be improving, it will have to go on your permanent record" Becky had told her. Hence the very reason she was currently signed up for Journalism club. Newspaper class… at least she had an excuse to snap pictures? The teacher had seemed pretty cool, but now she was stuck on a photoshoot this afternoon with Duncan Kane, her ex-boyfriend. If she had known that he was in this class she would have taken up Sculpting instead. Especially after the rumours Weevil had told her about… apparently she liked to send Duncan naked pictures of herself? Two guesses where those rumours had originated. Fucking Logan Echolls.

Wallace had come through with the files she had requested for Weevil's class schedule, having her own insider in the administration office was going to save her a lot of time after hours breaking in. Weevil was currently on litter duty and being held on suspicion of credit card fraud, she was sure he was innocent, someone else had been responsible and after he had helped her out on the beach and gotten her headlights fixed she owed him.

The records didn't match up, Weevil was in classes with no internet access when the majority of the fraudulent purchases had been made. He had only confessed so his grandmother would be allowed to go free. She had argued this point passionately to her father and Cliff McCormack, her fathers former college roommate and best friend, but so far, Weevil was currently on clean up duty. She was determined to get to the bottom of this.

"Seriously how hard is it to find good help these days?" Logan mused to his girlfriend Kaitlin as she sat perched on her desk, preening herself. _Logan and his bimbos… its like after Lilly he decided all his girlfriends shouldn't have brains encase another one of them had theirs bashed out_ Veronica thought bitterly.

"What did you do about your housekeeper?" Kaitlin asked.

"We had to let her go… if you cant trust your domestics… you cant feel safe in your own home" he mused, running a hand along her leg. He could finally spend some time with her tonight.. the bruises had mostly healed, so he could take his shirt off without raising too many questions.

"Did you know that 98% of all Identity Fraud is committed by RELATIVES of the victim?" Veronica said pointedly and looked at Logan who suddenly squirmed uncomfortably. He got like this recently, like the weight of her stare caused a temporary glitch in his brain. "That's an interesting fact… at least I think so" she said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Tell the truth Veronica… did you sign up for Newspaper class so you could be around Duncan?" he teased, flashing his eyebrows at her. Not that he was complaining.. one more opportunity to wind her up and provoke a response from friend.

"No… I did it so I could be closer to you" she flirted sarcastically and gave him a sweet smile.

He faked an Oooooh. _Feisty today was she? She did it to be closer to him? He was just grateful she couldn't super sleuth her way into finding out about his dreams last night._

"In fact they are thinking about putting me in your fourth period Government class" she smiled. _Another class where he would get distracted by staring at her?_

"We don't have Government Class fourth period… we have computer lab" Kaitlin snarled.

"Awww.." Veronica pouted in mock disappointment, clicking her fingers. "Oh Shoot… My loss" she said batting her eyes at Logan before turning back to her computer. He hadn't been able to stop stealing glances at her for the rest of the class.

He had snuck out after class and let the air down on her tire… this should get back at her for it he mused, and he was rewarded by seeing her glaring at him as he walked back to his car.

"Bummer" he mused, looking at the flat.

Kaitlin came over to show off her new scooter, he didn't love her, but she wasn't too much work and he liked the company. Troy Vandergraff went over to help Veronica change her tire and Logan felt a stab of… possessiveness? This was the third guy to be around Veronica in the last few weeks.

Wallace… Weevil…. Now Troy? What was going on at this school?

"Why is Troy helping Veronica?" Kaitlin asked.

"Why do you care?" Logan retorted casually. _More to the point… why did HE care?_

"Hey Veronica… do you need a ride?" Duncan asked as he walked over and saw the flat on her car.

"Ummmm" she spluttered, her cheeks flushing a little. Of course she would still have the hots for Duncan… it was typical. "Sure…" she said, grabbing her bag and leaving. Logan watched the little exchange with interest, so Veronica could get a response from Duncan when she was a damsel in distress? He filed that away for future reference, but frowned as he saw Troy continue to fix Veronica's car even after she had left.

 _Who was this Troy guy?_

Duncan hadn't come over tonight because he had had car trouble… that's what you get when you invite Veronica Mars into your life Logan thought angrily. Why was he still thinking about their little exchange today in the Navigator Office? _She couldn't have joined newspaper club just to be near him… would she?_

The dreams tonight involved her sitting at the desk where Kaitlin had been instead, his hands on her slim legs while she purred "I did it so I could be closer to you" as she unbuttoned a white shirt in her naughty girl uniform. His lips tingling in anticipation of trailing kisses down her naked flesh down to her naval before burying his head between her thighs under the short skirt and tasting her. He woke up gasping again, his bed sheets were soaked and he was still achingly hard. _Why was this happening to him?_

He would have to take matters into his own hands tonight if he wanted to get any sleep. His father had shouted at him the last time he had tried to have a cold shower, he tried to play the usual highlights… Britney Spears… Alissa Milano… thoughts of cheerleaders in his class… thoughts of Veronica in a cheerleading uniform… it came out of nowhere and he was too far gone to stop. He came quickly and sat up, pissed off.

He shouldn't be having these kinds of thoughts about his dead girlfriends best friend.. he sobbed guiltily. _Why couldn't she have taken up Sculpting or something else instead?_

Veronica was gleeful after she had found the room service docket with Logan's girlfriends name on it. Proof that he was guilty of stealing his mother's credit card and running up charges at the Neptune Grand Hotel. That should wipe the smile off his racist face she thought.

"I know it was you…" she warned him as he entered the newspaper office.

"What was me?" Logan asked… there were so many things he had done to her recently lately.. which one was she referring to?

"You stole your mothers credit card, but you screwed up when you had Kaitlin sign for room service" she told him smugly.

"That's great.. prove it" Logan snarled, walking away from her. _What the hell was she talking about?_

The accusation had been playing in his mind most of the afternoon until lunch, what did Veronica possibly know? He knew she was trying to help out that Weevil guy for whatever reason.. and now Troy Vandergraf was flirting with her again… _what was the deal with this?_ He walked by her table and gave her a Mess with the Bull you will get the Horns kind of gesture and went to sit by Duncan. Damn her for getting his head all twisted up about Kaitlin.

"You want something?" Duncan asked as he told him he was going to the cafeteria. He wasn't hungry.. he was curious. Kaitlin had left her phone in her bag on the table. He began to scroll through the call history… _who had she been calling at one in the morning?_

Veronica had heard from Weevil the next day after he was released that his cousin Charlo had gone on the run after the PCHers had ousted him, narrowly saving his ass from a beating by Logan and the 09ers, just to end up getting one from his old buddies in the motorcycle gang. Logan had broken up with Kaitlin for her cheating and Veronica watched in sympathy as the 09ers had closed ranks on her and she was freezed out under Logan's orders.

"Wouldn't want to be her" Wallace commented as they watched the little exchange.

"Yeah… that would suck" Veronica said finally. Except that was her, that had been her entire life for the last year. She had been wrong about Logan, she would admit it and honestly it did hurt a little to see him lose another girlfriend. She didn't want him to be miserable… she didn't know what she wanted for him. Part of her wanted her old life back… another part wasn't ready to forgive and forget. So this was it, this is what they were. Battle lines had been drawn. Besides, she had more important things to worry about.. like the copy of that speeding ticket of Lilly's that had gotten her and Duncan pulled over a few nights ago. The one that proved Lilly's time of death was off by two hours, that her father had been right and the Kane's versions of events didn't add up.

Logan could feel Veronica watching him.. he supposed he should be grateful in a way that she had uncovered Kaitlins cheating.. but wasn't that the very thing about Veronica that had gotten him so mad at her in the first place? He had kissed another girl at a party for like three seconds.. and she had told Lilly who dumped him for it. Then she had been killed. The question had been tormenting for the last few days, he kept watching her, staring at that folded up piece of paper, who knew what chaos she was off creating this time? No, he was still pissed at her, he concluded but at least this time when she showed up in his dreams, he didn't mind as much.


	5. Chapter 5

Logan couldn't stifle the jealousy he felt when he saw Veronica flirting in the hallway with Troy, he had tried to distract himself by chatting to Duncan about his hook up with Shelley Pomoroy but he couldn't quite block it out. Duncan caught him staring at Veronica again so he made his usual snide comment.

"Have you noticed your buddy Troy has been all over your trailer park ex?" Logan said, hinting at the little exchange.

"Leave it be Logan" Duncan complained as he moved away.

 _Oh how he really wished he could._

"Dude you don't look so hot" Logan said as Duncan began to look sick and bolted for the bathroom.

 _Was this because of Veronica?_

"You Okay?" he as when Duncan returned.

"Yeah…" he replied and the two of them watched as Veronica dragged a freshmen into the girls bathroom with her. For all the rumours he started… she really didn't help herself much he mused.

"That girl is seriously wacked" Logan chuckled.

Veronica and Wallace were posting the letters to find John Smith in the office while Keith Mars, her father wandered around in the background like a chaperone.

"Dad… seriously he's just a friend" Veronica promised later that night over dinner.

"Okay.." he relented.

The only person he should have been worrying about was Troy Vandergraf. She still hadn't made up her mind about him yet, he was cute, funny and interested.. so what was the problem? She had barely been able to get herself to shake his hand let alone kiss him. She would have to remedy this tomorrow.

Logan must have been living in the twilight zone, because Duncan was back, he had shown up for school today talking so much that Logan had barely been able to get a word in edgeways. It was great to see. He had missed his friend. Perhaps he had hooked up with Shelley after all?

He had invited Troy Vandergraf to his little bleachers club happy hour to try and get him drunk so he could get more dirt on Veronica, but so far he hadn't shown.

"So Duncan… I thought your boy toy Troy was joining us… you don't think he go way laid by Veronica huh?" Logan said suggestively, flashing his eyebrows.

Duncan grabbed the flask from Logan and the two of them stood up to square off for a second, he wasn't sure if Duncan was going to hit him or not… had he overstepped? Honestly.. if he would just open up… Logan had been tormenting himself with that question since he had heard they had went on a date the night before.

The two of them started to horse around and Logan laughed as Duncan began to re-enact the bleacher scene from Grease, at least he was until Logan followed his gaze to see Veronica kissing Troy Vandergraf. Something twisted in the pit of his stomach.. anger… jealousy?

Definitely anger when he saw the conflicted look on Duncan's face. Why couldn't he just tell him why they had broken up? The question had been driving Logan insane for almost 14 months now. If he knew perhaps he could get her off his mind as well.

Veronica had left Duncan at the hospital when Jake Kane had arrived, she didn't want to spend anymore time around him than absolutely necessary, one minute she had been kissing Troy.. the next Duncan Kane's were falling from the sky and giving themselves a concussion. He had called her his girlfriend to the nurse… what did that even mean? She was confused about it all evening even long after she had solved her case about the transgender John Smith and reunited father and son.

She greeted him the next day in the corridor with a smile.

"Hey.. how is your head?" she asked while Logan lingered too close to her for comfort, but it's like whatever wall had temporarily come down while she had rushed a broken bleeding Duncan to the hospital had been replaced by the same monotone zombie this morning. He barely even looked at her.

"It's fine…" he muttered. "Better" and shuffled off down the corridor. Her heart sank a little, and there was Logan Fricking Echolls standing by watching history repeat itself. She was sure he loved it.

Logan had been watching the Imposter Duncan wander about all morning, but it wasn't confirmed until he saw Veronica talking to him in the hallway that it was official. The Real Duncan Kane had just sat down again for the foreseeable, and it was all Veronica Mars's fault. One afternoon he finally gets his friend back… and she takes him off for a ride and replaces him with this.

This is why he would never get involved with her.. she demolished everything in her path. She was the wrecking ball that had ruined everything in his life. He didn't dream about her that night… no his little obsession with Veronica Mars was over. She would find a few little surprises this week.. he had Madison helping him out later week with a special little idea he had planned for her part in the Disappearance of Duncan Kane… hell… maybe he should be hiring her to find his friend?

It was a Saturday night about three weeks later when he had seen Veronica leaving the Sac-n-Pac in a black wig, a cheeky tie, a button down shirt, a pleated skirt and wearing knee socks. He had no idea where she was going but the image had been torturing him all evening, he had tried to focus on his date with Cindy Larson, but all he could think about while he was with her was Veronica being the one with her legs around his waist with that outfit on.. it had been so close to the one in his dreams she wore when they were in the Newspaper Room in his fantasies. He hadn't thought about her like this in almost two weeks… he was still dwelling on it Monday when he had seen Duncan in the hallway.

"Hey man… everything okay?" he asked as Duncan rifled through a box of videos in his locker.

"My folks want me to make a memorial video for Lilly" Duncan replied sadly, this was obviously the last thing he wanted to be doing. "They wanted someone who knew her"

"Hey… you want me to do it? Let me do it man…" Logan said, taking the box.

"Thanks Logan" he smiled tightly. "You guys will have to take care of each other" Lilly's voice whispered to him.

"No problem man" Logan said, no other box had ever felt as heavy as the one between the both of them now.

He had been excused from classes for the next few days to work in private on the memorial video. Watching the tapes over and over, the sound of Lilly's voice had brought up a lot of old memories. God he missed her… and there was nothing of his Lilly in any of them. It was all debutant crap that Celeste wanted to use. He supposed it had been the sound of Lilly's voice that had drawn Veronica into the room with him, how dare she be here?

"What part of my ignoring you makes you think you are welcome?" he growled as he noted the time slot for the clip he wanted to use.

"What are you doing?" she asked enchanted by the image of their friend on screen.

"Assembling the World's most boring memorial video…" he complained, and started to recite the list of subjects in the videos. "God she would have hated this" he mused.

"Lilly as a long distance commercial" Veronica mused.

"It's not really about Lilly is it?" he told her. It was all about her mother controlling Lilly.. even now that she was gone.

Veronica didn't say anything, she just glanced at the video a moment longer and left him, part of him didn't want her to leave, it wanted to apologize, to have her hold him and let him cry in her arms. It wanted to feel whole for a few brief moments with someone who could possibly understand the pain he was feeling.

She finished up her case with Wallace and his crush from the Office, her dad had done his usual impression of someone in the DEA and they had bugged the computer nerds office and gotten back the money that had been scammed. It had been a good weeks work.. and it wasn't over yet.

Logan was still sitting in the computer lab when she found him on Thursday morning.

"So…" she said carefully as she slid into the seat beside him. "I was going through some of my stuff… and I found this" she told him as Veronica handed over a small tape.

"What is it?" he asked, taking the small cassette from her, making eye contact with her for the first time since their little exchanges.

"Not a violin recital" she smiled.

Something the Real Lilly.. she had gotten something that would show the real Lilly…

That part of him that wanted to apologize was hissing around in his head, it was on the tip of his tongue… she was right here… his friend… the one who he had been missing for the last year. She had come through for him when he had thought that Celeste Kane was going to win.

They both shared a little smile and he buried his hand in his hair and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well… I got a lot of work to do so.." he muttered, but truthfully, he was fighting back the urge to pull her closer to him and kiss her.

"Yeah.. me too" she relented and got up from her seat and left.

It wasn't until after she had gone that he put the tape in and began to cry.. it was of their night together. The one he kept dreaming about. Homecoming dance. Why did Veronica have to have chosen her dad? He missed her… she was his friend and hadn't realised just how much he had been missing her until now.. when he let go of that anger… the heartbreak was still there.

He wanted to call her back but where would they even start?

He dreamed of Lilly that night.. clearer than he had in months. No interruptions, no Martian detours. He dreamed of the way they had all been, and he wanted it back.

He was still thinking that as he exchanged a look with Veronica during the Memorial Video at the Fountain Dedication. It had turned out to be a great Video.. and Celeste had hated every minute of it.

Lilly was gone.. but Veronica was right here… she didn't have to be.

He told Dick and Sean to lay off letting the tires down on Veronica's car. Maybe it was time to let it go?


	6. Chapter 6

Logan sat on in his English class listening to his teacher rattle on about their current book of literary torture. _The Taming of the Shrew… would any of the crap in this Shakespearean pain in his ass work on Veronica Mars?_ He mused. She had invade his dreams again last night, this was becoming too common an occurrence lately, and he really wanted to know why. Was it because he hated her so much? He had to admit, replaying some of the highlights of his various fantasies about her really helped him to make it through his lessons with her, if only she could know what he was thinking that smug little defiant attitude of hers would disappear in a wave of embarrassment.

He couldn't wait for school to finish, he was heading down to Tijuana with Luke and Troy later… he planned to finish his original plan of getting him drunk and getting more details about Veronica Mars since this opportunity probably shouldn't have been wasted. Veronica barely dated anyone that he knew… perhaps if Duncan wouldn't tell him why they had broken up, he could get the information from Veronica via Troy? Anything to try and get the tools he needed so he could put her image out of his head like this.

The drive down in Troys new car had been comfortable enough but Logan really preferred driving his own, there was more room to lay down in the back and it seemed that Troys family were all short because his 6ft frame struggled to curl up in the front seat at all. They spent most of Friday night hitting the local bars and drinking but apart from the odd grumble about how Veronica was still holding out on Troy, the plan, had backfired. Troy had barely touched a drop and Logan had drank way too much when he realised that he would get nothing useful to help him in his quest to get Veronica Mars off his mind… but at least she wasn't in someone else's bed either? He had no idea where that thought had come from, or why it made him strangely happy that she wasn't putting out for Troy Vandergraf.

It must have been his loyalty to Duncan Kane.. he was glad that she wasn't out proving herself to be anything like her reputation, especially if it seemed like Duncan's feelings for Veronica might not have gone away like he had always assumed. He was still into her.. but they weren't together, it made no sense to him. Questions about it had driven him into the bottom of a bottle of tequila and then he had eaten those chorizos and now he was cuddled up in the front of Troys fathers car, dry heaving as they waited on Luke to finish his "business" with the pick up he was doing for that guy down at the gym.

"Not on the leather man!" Troy complained.

The drive through the border had been pretty uneventful but now he was starving, part of him was still kicking himself for not being able to close the deal with that girl Esmerelda back at the reception in their hotel, but as much as they had been fooling around, her hair was thick and dark and curly… her skin was tanned and smooth… not pale and blond and her eyes weren't blue like comets… she was making it too easy for him.. he wanted a challenge, he wanted someone who would make him work for it… oh god.. Veronica was doing it to him again.

"Let's eat" Troy agreed as they pulled into a diner on the way back. Nothing had ever tasted as good… bacon and eggs and good old milkshake to wash it down.

Luke had teased him about his failures in sealing the deal with Esmerelda while they waited for Troy to come back, like he was going to confess that it was a certain petite camera wielding shrew that kept getting in his way?

"No way man, I totally could have.. The deal was Closed back in VIP.. make no mistake" Logan dismissed.

"You guys ready to go?" Troy asked as he returned from the bathroom.

"Did you wash your hands?" Logan asked and was rewarded by Troy wiping them on him. "Eww thanks" he laughed. Okay, he could see why Duncan liked him.

"Let's roll" Troy said before he punched Logan in the arm, oh well at least if nothing he had managed to get a break from his Dad this weekend, and he didn't have to worry about driving around Neptune and running into Sexy Sleuth Veronica Mars on the beach.

"Where's my dad's car?" Troy exclaimed. "Someone please tell me this is where we parked…?"

Logan looked around the vacant lot in horror, the car was indeed missing. They had lied to get out of Neptune this weekend, his parents thought he was with Luke and Luke's parents thought he was with Troy. They would kill him if they found out what they had really been up to. He thought about calling Duncan, but his parents had taken him away to the Napa house for a few days to visit Jake Kane's sister Lillian. Beaver and Dick had been too wasted to drive when he had called. Luke had been too panicked to even bother calling anyone and Troy had come to the conclusion that he knew exactly who to call to bail them out of this jam.

"My dad's due home on Wednesday if the car isn't back before he is.. I'm going to be singing hymns and counting rosary beads before you can say Halleluiah" Troy complained.

It was then Logan saw who he had called. His girlfriend, Veronica Mars.

"Dude.. where is your car?" she mocked cheekily as she pulled up. "Sorry" she smiled sweetly.

 _Oh sure… she could say sorry for something about this… but she couldn't even apologize for betraying her oldest friends and abandoning him?_

It was then she looked at him, a hard glint in her eyes. "Your monkey is going to have to ride in the back" she warned Troy. There was his friendly welcome… so much for getting a break this weekend.

"Wow.. nice car… it must have been a huge cereal box" Logan taunted.

"Aaah aaahh" Troy petitioned. "Please let that go… cherish these moments.. because they will probably be the last time we spend together before my father sends me off to Catholic School" he told her as Logan climbed into the back seat. Sheesh he had thought that Troy's fathers car had been cramped, and it wasn't like Veronica needed that much space in the front. He slid over into the seat behind her and did his best to stay distracted by chatting to Luke, it couldn't quite shake the exhilaration he was feeling, he could smell her perfume from here.. it was sweet and inviting… she wore her hair in Princess Leia style buns and he wished that it could be just the two of them and pulling over somewhere along the dark highway and she could climb into the back seat with him… hell while he was thinking about it she could wear the slave girl outfit from Star Wars. Had a neck ever been so enticing? At least he got to the satisfaction that after this screw up with the car… Troy Vandergraf would be getting shipped off and Veronica would have to pine the lonely nights away alone again _. Hey, if he was even feeling charitable, maybe some night he would offer to keep her company?_

It was early hours of Sunday morning when they finally got back to Neptune and she drove him to collect his car. "Well… thanks for the Ride… Does this mean you are going to play nice now?" he asked flirtatiously as he climbed out of the back of her car after Luke, his bones protested with every step as he straightened up.

"Walk in front of the car, we'll see" she said and jokingly revved the engine as he moved in front, a very sexy naughty smile on her face. The same one she wore in his dreams when she seduced him. God he really needed a shower or some alone time after this.

"Hey. You think I can stay in your pool house? I don't want to wake my parents this early" Luke asked. _So much for getting time alone._

Veronica did her best to collect as much details from the stolen car as possible and was enjoying Sunday in the Mars Investigations Office with Wallace over lunch. She really didn't want Troy to go away, she liked him, he was nice and normal… and he had been the first decent guy to come along since Duncan who didn't cow down to Logan's little toadies, although she had to admit she had been disappointed when she found out they were hanging out together. Then again, Duncan and Logan had been friends for years before his Jackass Evolution, so maybe they just didn't see the sides of him that she did? She was still mulling it over when she got home and found a voicemail from the school's guidance counsellor Ms James to her dad.. cancelling dinner.

Her dad was dating Becky "I'll be your friend" James from the guidance office? Since when?

She couldn't really blame her father though, companionship, needs, yada yada… isn't that why she wanted to keep Troy around?

Veronica had been chasing down leads on how to keep her man when Luke had found her in the computer lab the next morning, apparently the boys had been doing a lot more than just scamming cheerleaders and drinking too much this weekend. That stolen car? Was host to a piñata full of steroids in the back seat. About $8000 worth.

"You gotta help me" Sean pleaded. What could she say? She was a marshmallow.

She picked up the safety deposit box contents using that key she had found this morning during her lunch period and widened her search for the missing piñata and the car. Luke had seemed pretty desperate, and as freaked out as she was over the surveillance photos she had found her mother had been hiding, there wasn't much she could do about the information right now. Even if they were pictures of her under what looked like a sniper scope's cross hairs.

Luke couldn't tell her much more, and Troy claimed he didn't know anything about the drugs, so she would have to talk to her least favourite Neptune Resident tomorrow.

Logan had been flicking through his English homework musing at how much easier his life would be if he was indifferent to Veronica or if any of these tactics of turning her into an obedient little wife would actually work. That cheeky smile of hers kept coming back to him, her perfume.. the moonlight on her skin.. the soothing sound of her voice… the one she had used with Troy just a few nights ago. He had felt like such a voyeur, seeing that sweet caring side of her. In his dreams last night she had joined him in that back seat after all and told him she was sorry and the sex had been the most vivid dream yet… _if only she would play nice…_ he could just have a taste of her and then maybe this obsession would be over, and then maybe this guilt would be over.

He was on his knees in front of his locker the next morning when that very same headstrong, obdurate shrew approached him, she looked like a fiery angel.

"Time for a chat?" Veronica asked as she smiled at him.

"Wow… you think if hell froze over maybe it would be on the news?" He joked. Why would she possibly want to talk to him?

"I just want to hear more about the steroids you bought last weekend" she told him bluntly. Aahh there it was. The usual acerbic daily dose of Mars he had been missing this week. She was always riding on him about something… even when he hadn't been involved at all _. Couldn't she just Ride him the way he wanted her to or leave him alone?_

"You mean the Steroids Luke bought" Logan sighed. _So much for their little truce…_ "Wow you suck at this Nancy Drew stuff… you really should get a new hobby" he taunted. _Like me…._

"So you knew he was doing it?" she accused him. Yeah he had known… it's not like he was responsible for it though, if it rained in china and someone's flowers got wet, was that his fault too?

"Like I'd really tell you anything" he said defensively.

She rolled her eyes angrily at him and he watched as her expression changed, becoming a little more friendlier, jealously wondering who had earned such a high honour he followed her gaze he saw Troy Vandergraf approaching. _Of course…_

"Okay… I see we are done here… Officer" he mocked as she finally gave him back her attention. He flicked his gaze back between the two of them, he better get out of here before she noticed the jealousy in his tone. "What's up T?" he said as he walked right between them, interrupting the kiss he knew Troy had been planning to give her as a greeting.

"Hey Gorgeous" Troy smiled. "That guy bothering you?" he asked as Logan walked away.

"What guy?" she smiled sweetly.

 _What guy?_ Logan thought angrily. _The one who you just accused of being a drug smuggler? The one you generally treat with utter contempt and the one who was really disappointed you hadn't come to drag HIM into the girls bathroom with you?_

He had been taking it easy on her lately, but after this… it was back on. If she needed reminding he was here… then she was going to get it.

"Madison…" he called out as he walked up to his friend Dick Casablanca's girlfriend. "Remember that little surprise we were planning for Veronica last week?" he mused.

"The one that I got the combination to her gym locker for?" Madison asked innocently.

"Yeah… well I've changed my mind. Go nuts" he told her as he went outside to meet Zack and Kody to play some ball.


	7. Chapter 7

VVeronica held the envelope her father had given her about Troy Vandergraf her boyfriend in her hands as she sat at the computer desk in her bedroom. To know, or not to know…? That was her question. She had confirmed that the car had been chopped by Weevils cousin Angel, but the piñata had been empty of drugs when she had found it at the child's birthday party.

Giving in she ripped open the brown paper and began to read through the rap sheet.. he had been kicked out of two previous schools for drug possession. _Of course…. How could she have been so stupid?_

The confrontation with Troy hadn't gone well. He had denied it of course. He had accused her of jumping the gun and that he would have told her about everything eventually, they had only been dating for a month after all, and it was something he wasn't proud of.

She didn't trust him now, there was only one thing that made sense now. He had swapped out the drugs at the diner at the border station. Veronica made the drive down that night and used her trusty out of order sign to check the men's bathrooms, the only place that Troy had been alone since Luke had picked up the drugs. There they were. She had sent the picture of the drug dealer who was hunting Luke she had snapped after she had dropped off the $8000 to buy him off Luke's ass to border patrol. He wouldn't be making it back over with his new product this time and Luke would be safe.

The revelations about Troys lies only added fuel to her cynical jaded heart. She had been a fool for thinking that there may have been a decent guy left in Neptune other than her dad or Wallace Fennel. It wasn't until after she had woken up from listening to her This Picture album that she found the voicemail on her phone from her mother, the first time she had heard her voice since she had found those surveillance pictures.

"First of all honey, let me just say I miss you.. more than you can possibly imagine" her mothers voice said. "I did get one of your letters.. but I wont say which one because I don't want you to come looking for me. Veronica.. don't come finding me. Everything will make sense when the time is right. I promise. I love you sweetheart"

Veronica had sobbed for an hour. Her mother must have been so frightened when she was sent those pictures, now she had a million questions. _Who had sent those photos? Why were they targeting Veronica? Did this have something to do with Lillys murder?_

Her father was obsessing about wanting to do more normal father/daughter activities since he had split up with Ms James after their argument, he had taken Becky the friendly Neptune High's Guidance Counsellors advice about reducing her exposure to the seedier side of Private Eye life to heart it seemed. San Diego Zoo was his latest idea… like the unsolved murder of her best friend was going to be made magically better by looking at zebras and penguins.

She was pretty sure she was being haunted by Lilly Kane… the nightmares had been getting worse, perhaps it was because Abel Koontz had just decided to fire his court appointed legal defender.

Her latest assignment of the local newspaper had been interesting today, Wanda Garner was running against the 09ers. There might actually have been someone at this school who didn't entirely suck worth voting for this year. Viva la Revolution she smiled to herself as she watched the campaign video.

Logan had purposely chosen the computer furthest away in the corner away from Veronica, she was wearing this earth tone off the shoulder number paired with a pair of Lara Croft style short shorts and her legs had been distracting him through most of his lessons this morning.. although from his vantage point, if he turned around, he could still see them perfectly beneath the table. The table he had imagined pinning her down on and kissing her while she wrapped those smooth legs around his waist.

 _Damn them Gams…_

She was smiling in amusement at the video, she obviously approved of this Wanda character… oh well then she couldn't be allowed to win. He would just help Duncan Kane with his campaign and beat her little champion back to the cafeteria line where she belonged.

"We cant give up those Pirate Points man.. you gotta run" he told Duncan.

"Actually… no I don't" he replied. _Fine… if Duncan didn't want to campaign then he would just help him find his inspiration._

The campaign video had been done by his dad's editor's friend Daisy Blossom in about twenty minutes and he even got his dad to cameo to endorse Duncan. It was all set up for tomorrow with the AV club he mused as he watched Veronica interviewing Wanda from across the quad. He was busy putting together a little amateur boxing ring for tomorrow night's beach party.

He couldn't wait to see the look on Veronica's face when she saw this.. it was going to be priceless, and true enough it was. She had been furious. It just put him in that much of a better mood that night during his Bum Fights on the beach… he had been trashed and the fighting hadn't been anywhere near as impressive as he had hoped. Guess some stuff just did look better in the movies. His little fight club had been fun, but the drunken sex with Tammy Forrester in the back of his car and the hangover didn't feel so good on his way into school the following morning.

His witty barbs to Veronica as they had stood in line at Java the Hut when he had gone in for his usual hangover cure hadn't so much as gotten an acknowledgement. She looked like something was weighing on her mind, she was distracted.

 _Probably still pining away for her boy toy Troy…_ Logan thought bitterly.

She didn't acknowledge his presence until much later when she approached him in the Navigator office. Someone had vandalised the Wanda posters in the hallway… and as usual… she blamed him. The only thing he was actually guilty of was having been the one to put the Kane for President Sticker directly over her locker door so she would have to peel it off.

Isn't this what they did? Blamed each other for all the things wrong in each other's lives?

"This is a new Low Logan" she accused him. "and just when the critics were having some doubts" she mocked.

"I guess you are referring to your new Narc _friend_ Wanda" he retorted although his tone was suggestive that they were more than friends. She glared at him, those blue eyes piercing into him, she lingered around his desk and he resisted the urge to pull her into his lap. _Really? Even after he had gotten laid last night?_

"Look… isn't it time you found another bad guy?" he suggested sarcastically. "I just don't have time to responsible for every little thing that goes wrong in your life" Logan laughed before he got up and walked away, that off the shoulder number was showing off too much of that kissable throat of hers… he wondered where she liked to be kissed… he was still musing over the thought when he turned around and saw her crouching down chatting to Duncan.

Oh right… that's why he hadn't made a move yet. She was his best friends Ex and Duncan wasn't over her yet… and you didn't do that to a buddy.

Veronica had still been reeling from the revelations about the crime scene pictures showing Lillys shoes in her bedroom the day she died, the same shoes that were found on Abel Koontz houseboat. It meant the evidence was false. Logan's antics had provided a much needed distraction this morning… a much needed source of direction for her frustrations. She had even gone out of her way to scold Duncan about his lack of initiating anything anymore, of just standing idly by. She hadn't really been surprised when the halls had erupted with mpegs of Logan's latest exploits of the underground bum fights. He really was the obligatory psychotic Neptune High Jackass.

She had slipped Wanda false information about getting hooked up with some liquid X for a rave this weekend in the desert.. time to test the theory of her potential new friend being a Narc. She would just have to wait until morning to find out if she got called for a Locker search by Vice Principal Clemmons and the trusty Deputy Sacks.

Logan had tried sneaking into the house as quietly as possible, he was terrified, he had screwed up so badly.. that video had gone Viral, it had been on the radio during his drive home, he was being compared to Rosemarys Baby, the teen years.

"Hello Son…" his fathers voice said as he sat in the dark.


	8. Chapter 8

The beating had been so severe after his stunt during his father's little press parade at the soup kitchen with Logan that he had had to take several days off school. Stomach flu apparently, but the only thing that was wrong with his stomach was the massive bruises on his back and ribcage from where Aaron Echolls, A List Movie Star and Child Abuser had beaten his son with the belt he had made him choose. He was exhausted, he hadn't been able to sleep properly in days and Tammy had now lost interest after he had had to refuse hooking up with her again.

Duncan had finally forgiven him after he had won the student election eventually, he was sorry he had put him in that position, he was sorry for a lot of his behaviour this week. This was his first day back and the campus was buzzing with students stressed about exam week.

Mr Daniels pop quiz had been a disaster, he was getting a zero for talking to Eli Navarro, and detention.

"Look if I donate to the United Latino Pain In the Ass Fund will you shut the hell up?" he asked Weevil as he continued to rant about how the situation wasn't fair.

"You like playing with yourself?" Weevil asked.

"What?" Logan spluttered, the truth was, he had been doing a lot more of that lately and Veronica had been centre stage most evenings.

"Cards.." Weevil said. "You want to make things interesting?"

"What did you have in mind?" Logan asked sceptically.

Thus started the poker game which had landed them outside having to wash Mr Daniels junk mobile, sheesh, Logan had thought Veronica's car had been bad. He noticed Duncan had looked visibly ill after speaking to Veronica today… something about their parents being King and Queen of the Prom together. _History does like to repeat itself…_ he mused as he watched the two of them, and the mystery continued. Duncan refused to talk about it, so Logan had just let it go. He didn't want Duncan thinking about Veronica anyway. Ever since that party in Body Jacksons house, he had started to talk about Meg Manning a lot more, he was engaging a lot more with things after Veronica's little verbal lashing she had given him before the student election and it seemed like Duncan was becoming more himself again.

Veronica on the other hand, was all kinds of distracted. She moved around the campus like she had some kind of hidden mission, she reminded him of the heroine in one of those cop movies his dad had made for a few years when the scripts he was sent weren't the utter syfy action crap pile he was sent lately. The last movie he was proposed was some renegade cop with an Orc for a sidekick, could anything sound more awful?

She seemed to busy all the time now, she no longer sat at her usual spot in the food court, she sat wherever Wallace Fennel was, she no longer spent so long being near Duncan Kane, she was usually hidden behind her laptop screen or looking through pieces of paper. It meant Logan got to spend less time watching her as well. He was actually grateful for the company during his detention, Weevil was actually pretty cool, for a biker that is. The look on Mr Daniels face when he saw that car on the flag pole was priceless, he hadn't been able to stop laughing. It wasn't until he heard the following day that Eli had been expelled that he realised that should confess, maybe Weevil had been right. There was a different rule for people like him… why not use Daddys reputation to help out a fellow jackass and get some payback in the process?

Mr Clemmons had been bugging Logan to get the shoes his dad had promised to donate for the school auction… he just might accidentally arrive into school with his fathers favourite pair from his Prop Gallery in the house and see if he couldn't bargain for Eli Navarro to get reinstated.

"So what kind of punishment are we talking about?" he smirked as he saw Mr Clemmons face at the sight of the most famous pair of boots his father owned from the movie that had won him his first Oscar.

The two of them had been instructed to paint all the graffiti off the side of the school building for the next three days, it would have been a lot fun if he hadn't found that tattoo of Lilly's name on his shoulder. Weevil had claimed that Lilly was the name of his little sister, but something in the style of that piece of ink told him there was more to the story. He had no proof, so he had just done his best to ignore it. Keith Mars's name was all over the news tonight, apparently there had been a shooting at the Sunset Apartment Complex he shared with his daughter Veronica. When Logan had first heard the headline over the radio he had almost crashed into the car in front of him until he got all the details. For a horrifying moment he had thought that something had happened to her. It probably didn't help that the memories of that day Lilly had died were surfacing as a result of his suspicions about Eli Navarro and that tattoo.

He had known Lilly had been seeing someone, he had driven to Neptune to see her.. he had been right here… he had seen her at the car wash, just a few short hours before she was murdered. If only he had had the courage to break up with her in person… they might have talked it out, they might have worked it out… he could have still be with her.. she wouldn't have died that day. Instead he had been a coward, not wanting to face up to the truth that she had been cheating on him with someone else. He was too in love with her, he couldn't bare hearing it, so he had left that note and the shot glass in her car and drove back to meet up with Dick and Beaver at the Diner near the border.

"Former disgraced Neptune Sheriff Keith Mars has heroically saved the life of a woman and her pregnant daughter after her husband attempted to kill them and the unborn child.. more news on this after these words from our sponsors"

Keith Mars has Heroically Saved the Life of a Woman… where was that heroism the day the love of his life had been murdered?

Logan pulled into the drive way and saw his mother Lynn Echolls worried face… seems like Papa has finally realised his prized boots are missing. He just really hoped sticking his neck out for Weevil like that had been worth it.

Veronica Mars hugged Sarah goodbye as she packed the last of her things into her mother's car, at least she wouldn't be alone now. Just like Veronica wasn't alone anymore, her father had finally agreed to stop their little game of spy vs spy and the two of them were now working together on Lilly's murder case. He had seemed set in giving up until Veronica had shown him the crime scene photos and the footage of Abel Koontz arrest, if they hadn't been in such a hurry to oust her father as Sheriff, she was sure this would have been picked up a lot sooner. Then again, no one knew almost every facet of the official information better than she did, she ate slept and breathed this case, and she wasn't going to stop until whoever had ruined their lives had to spend the rest of theirs behind bars.

"Cliffy" she chirped as her father's college roommate and their resident lawyer entered the office.

"You aren't trying to sell me a raffle ticket are you?" he asked cautiously.

"No.. I want you to get me onto death row to meet with Abel Koontz" she declared.

"You crazy kids… the stuff you are into… what's it going to be next month?" he replied dryly as he sat down opposite her. "Interesting fact, when you sack your lawyer, you no longer have a lawyer"

"I need to get into see him" Veronica told him.

"The term, is former lawyer" Cliff repeated. "Your dad didn't page me did he?" he scolded as the realisation of her little ruse dawned on him.

"Help me Cliff… I need to judge if he's crazy for myself" she pleaded.

"Write him a letter, stating your case and I will make sure he gets it" Cliff told her as he got out of his chair.

"Thanks Cliffy" she said.

"He's going to say no" Cliff warned as he walked to the door.

"You think?" she smiled sweetly. "Sometimes people find it very difficult to say no to me"

Logan stood in the shower allowing the hot water to run down over his aching muscles, his father had just punched him this time but he hadn't fully healed from the lashes he had been given so it had hurt. He had gone out to dinner with his agent afterwards like nothing had happened and his mother had just sipped another bourbon and went to lie on the sun longer by the pool.

It didn't matter anyway, his thoughts kept going back to Keith Mars and that radio commentator going on about how they just didn't make great cops like they used to and how it was such a shame that he had been ousted as Sheriff. Latoya Alonso of CPKW 97.4 radio station had obviously voted to keep him in office then.

He was furious.

Keith Mars, Life Saver Private Eye.

What was it with the Mars family? They tormented his every waking moment… it was either dealing with the Zombie Duncan that Lilly's death had created or listening to radio praise about the man who had allowed his dead girlfriends body to be shown on a video for all the world to see to be plastered all over the internet… or it was Veronica invading his dreams like some kind of siren, consuming him, making him betray Lilly's memory and then being replaced with the real life bitch who hated him in the morning, the girl who hid bongs in his locker.

It was time to remind them they didn't belong in Neptune he sighed as he looked around the bathroom for his bathrobe, no towels, nothing. He had to wander half way down the hallway to get one from the guest bedroom ensuite.

"Hey Logan.. what can I do for you?"

"Madison?" he said as he picked up the phone. "I think I have an idea for that combination"

"Where are my clothes?" Veronica asked as she looked in horror at the empty locker as she stood dripping wet in her towel in the girls locker room.

"Where are my clothes?" she demanded as the 09ers stood by smirking in satisfaction at her.

 _No no no… this stuff was supposed to be over…._ She thought miserably.

There hadn't really been an "incident" in about a month other than the usual little altercations with her locker but nothing this bad. She found them stuffed into the toilet in the bathroom. She would have to call her dad. _Why hadn't she just transferred to Pam High at the beginning of the year like her father suggested?_

"Veronica.. did you find your clothes?" Meg Manning, the only 09er left with a heart that Veronica considered a friend asked as she stepped beside her. "Oh.." Her favourite green shirt had been ruined.

"Well.. does this towel make me look fat?" Veronica asked.

"Let me see if I have something" Meg offered.

What Meg had was a Neptune Pirates Cheerleading uniform… Veronica had never felt more self-conscious as she did wandering through the halls out of that Locker room in the skimpy outfit that Meg had loaned her.

Several of the boys wolf whistled and made suggestive comments as she followed Meg outside into the court yard.

"I just have to resist the urge to do a cartwheel" she quipped miserably.

"Why don't you come have lunch with us?" Meg offered but as Veronica looked up at the lunch table to see Dick Casablanca's and Madison howling in laughter giving each other high fives she decided against it.

"I just want to go home and change… but thank you… so much for this" she replied as she left quickly and headed to her car, it wasn't until she was behind the wheel that she finally let herself cry.

Logan felt awful, at first the sight of Veronica wander through the hallway in that outfit had been the stuff of his fantasies, he had snapped a few pictures for his own private collection, but when he saw her crying in her car he realised he had been wrong to encourage Madison. His problem had been with her father… not her.


	9. Chapter 9

Logan looked at his score on the purity test 42, so it turned out he wasn't as wild as he thought he was, seems he still had some growing up to do he mused.

"Dude… check this out… Katrina Wolfstein got a 75, maybe you should ask her out?" Dick suggested. This quiz had been going around for about a week now, and now all these sex secrets weren't so secret anymore, you could buy the exploits of most people in school who had taken the quiz.

"What did you get?" Logan asked.

"I'm a 63" Dick replied proudly. "Beaver is 250" he said teasing his little brother.

"A percentage out of a hundred doesn't go up to 250 dumbass" Cassidy Casablanca's complained.

"Yeah well that one on Veronica should be -3000… who knew she was into all that freaky shit?" Dick mused as he handed Logan the tablet.

He began to read over the alleged sexual exploits of Veronica Mars.

 _"Have you ever had sex with your best friends boyfriend?"_

Despite the bitchy answer of _I have no friends but I'll sleep with anyone's boyfriend for the right price while they video tape me._ Logan sort of wished he could make this one come true.

He had no desire to read these lies, most of the chaos at school had been tearing their little lunch table apart. Cole and Meg Manning had broken up quite publicly today, it was chaos. Logan was just grateful he wasn't the kind to really kiss and tell. He treated most of his partners casually these days, but he was always fair. He could only imagine the kinds of things getting around out there with his name on it. No doubt the Sexy Sleuth who had scored a 14 would be off making someone pay for this.

"How accurate are these things anyway?" Logan scoffed.

"Very.. dude you can only do it if you log in to your email.. and it ain't like half the school just lets everyone else know their password" Dick assured him.

 _"If you could have sex with someone you hate.. who would it be?"_

 _Logan Echolls._

 _"How often do you take matters into your own hands?"_

 _Every night._

Nope.. these were more truthful about him than they were about Veronica.

When he had gotten home he had paced the house for a while, he had asked around as much as possible but no one had confessed to being behind this little quiz. The administration at the school had launched a formal investigation and promised those responsible would be expelled. Duncan's test had come back at an 87, which was surprising, because Logan had still assumed that he hadn't gotten past third base yet, Duncan didn't talk about his sex life much though. He wondered who the girl had been. The purity test he had purchased to try and get some answers had only been short, yes or no answers. Even on paper, the Kane Fortress of Solitude was impenetrable.

These things about Veronica weren't true, she had been very chaste when she was with Duncan and she hadn't dated anyone but Troy Vandergraff who she had barely held hands with according to his little research session down in Tijuana. She hadn't acted like any of this stuff had bothered her today… how did she do that? Unless.. it did, and she just kept to herself until she broke down in her car like she had after his prank about her clothes. He'd honestly just thought that Madison would have hidden her bra or written on her t-shirt or something.. not flushed all of her stuff down the toilet. Maybe he really was Rosemary's Baby the teen years like that Pirate Radio Station that had started up lately had suggested.

Duncan had been freaking out about some email he had been sent, he had actually accused Logan of trying to screw with him by sending him emails from Veronica's account. He hadn't and it wasn't until Logan asked to see what it said that he realized why.

"I still love you very much… Veronica"

Duncan had left to go home early after that.

It wasn't until about a day later that the video of Kimmy confessing to posting the purity test in Meg's name came up, and that Pam had been the one to send the video, and let it slip to Veronica that Duncan was still hung up on her. That had been awkward. Kids around school were starting to get a healthy respect of not screwing with Veronica or misfortunate things would happen. Dick's car had mysteriously developed problems before school let out after he had made some suggestive remarks about her in class. Dick had overheard Veronica talking to Duncan earlier, declaring her unlove for him and telling him that her email had been hacked. It was all very high school drama, and he wished the two of them would make up their minds once and for all. The hesitation was driving him crazy, and at least if they were back together then Logan could have an excuse to stop his little war with her. He could put her firmly in the friend's box again and the guilt could go away.

Veronica Mars came away from her visit with Abel Koontz shaking, she was feeling sick. He had seen right through her attempts to pretend to be "Ellen" from his home town, a helpful girl trying to save a local boy from Death Row.

"Look in a Mirror Veronica Mars… are you the daughter of a sloppy Sheriff or the King and Queen of the Prom?" he had sneered at her.

If what he said was true… if Lianna Mars and Jake Kane had been having an affair… that meant that Lilly wasn't just her best friend… she was her sister… and Duncan was her brother?

 _Was that the reason he had broken up with her?_

She pulled over to the side of the road and threw up out of the car.

 _Was this why her father had gone after Jake Kane so obsessively? Did he know?_

Veronica had to know for sure, she pulled into the Neptune Family Services Clinic and purchased two paternity collection kits, one for her, and one for her dad. One way or another, she would get answers.

Logan couldn't understand why Duncan had been so upset at lunch today, he had behaving strangely ever since Veronica had ran the other direction from them both this morning. This trend had continued for most of the week and it was made worse by Veronica's insistence on hanging out with Casey Gant. Were they dating now? Was she determined to make her way through their list of friends just to torment Duncan?

And him?

Her little cameos into his daydreams had become a little less frequent after the cheerleader outfit incident, he felt guilty about making her the star in his own private movie. Then he felt guilty about wanting to have her there at all because she had been his dead girlfriends best friend.. and she was the girl who his own best friend was clearly still not over.

Whatever it was between them, it had fizzled out by the end of the week and Veronica and Duncan were doing their awkward little dance again. This was Purgatory.

Veronica clutched the brown envelope in her hands, the results from her DNA test. If Keith Mars wasn't her real father… she didn't want to know she thought as she snuck into his bedroom and put it unopened into the shredder.


	10. Chapter 10

What better way was there to be preparing for her Christmas holidays than to be reviewing the Lilly Kane murder case file? Veronica Mars mused.

The things she was sure of, were that Abel Koontz could not have killed Lilly Kane because he was being paid off by the Kanes. She just couldn't figure out why yet.. what good would money do him if he was on Death Row? The Kane Families head of security, Clarence Weidman had been the one to make the anonymous call to the Sheriff's Office about Abel Koontz house boat. They had planted the shoes from the original crime scene pictures onto his houseboat along with her book bag. None of the Kane's had alibi's which held up now because Lilly's time of death was now two hours later than the coroner's report had claimed. This was all a cover up.. a conspiracy… and she would get to the truth. This case may or may not have been about the murder of her own sister. She had moments when she regretted not finding out for sure, but what good would knowing that do?

The evidence in front of her made if even harder to tolerate the retaliation from the 09ers at school sometimes. Her father had been right all along. Her instincts to stick by him, her faith in the man who had raised her had been true.

Who had killed Lilly Kane? It was the thought that kept her up at night.

She tried her best to ignore it, to just focus on all of the shiny Christmas decorations and watch Charlie Browns Christmas with her dad… _Life still had to go on for those us left behind_ she thought sadly.

Logan had torn apart the pool house all morning, this was really pissing him off. He had invited Weevil along to the card game, mostly at his insistence because honestly, a part of him liked the Biker, he had a similar streak of Fuck You attitude that Logan admired. He could respect it. Plus he was a sucker for that whole Easy Rider lifestyle but he would never admit it that he just thought those bikes looked damn cool. Someone had stolen the cash, and if it hadn't been for Trina's latest shopping binge and his father putting a limit on their credit cards this month due to the Holidays, Logan would have just written Weevil a cheque, or like went to an ATM or something. $5000 wasn't exactly the kind of cash that Logan just left laying around. He hadn't discovered that Weevil had taken the Egg until this morning. He had to get it back.. before someone noticed.

Stripping down to his underwear during a poker game was something he usually preferred to leave to the Ladies. Especially if it meant he had to compare himself to Connor Larkin, Hollywoods current Abs of the Month. It had bothered him so much he hadn't been able to sleep much… even his fantasy version of Veronica had pouted at him and strutted around the room in her cigar girl uniform doing her Sexy Sleuth impression and inviting him to help her check under her clothes for the rolled up wad of notes. He was hungover, and the room was trashed. He would have to clean this room himself or the staff would complain to his parents, or worse, assume someone had broken in and then he would really be in trouble.

It looked like there had been a police raid in here. He had cleaned half of the room when he decided it was time to stop and make himself something to eat, the good thing about the pool house is that it came complete with its own small kitchen and espresso machine. So Logan spent a lot of his time in here when his father was home so he could avoid the main house. He still couldn't believe that Weevil had beaten him with a pair of 2's.

He had taken the morning off so his parents wouldn't venture this far out, but he had received several angry texts from Duncan that Weevil had taken his laptop… Duncan was very private, he didn't even keep a paper journal.. his entire life was on that laptop, all of his memories of Lilly were in there. This had to be remedied fast. _Apparently Veronica had said something about Logan having fleas? She thought he was a dog._

Veronica was glad she had convinced Weevil to agree to give back the laptop if she could get the $5000 back, if someone read that journal of Duncans rumours of her reputation would go from barely tolerable to heading to visit Wallace in the administration office to filling out transfer papers to Pam High. She could only tolerate the things people said about her because she knew none of them were true… she had to get that laptop back.

So far, she knew Weevil was innocent, otherwise why would he be going to all this trouble of taking 09ers stuff? He had a theory that the culprit was Logan… so after she got hold of Duncan's version of events, she was going to have to visit Mr Echolls.

Logan made it to school about Lunchtime, he had brought in sushi as a treat and made up some lame excuse about a dentist appointment, the school rarely ever checked these things anyways.

"Bon Appetite" he said as he left the tray down and the others at the table started to take their share.

"Logan.. so we hear that Weevil got your Egg?" Cole asked.

Logan did his best to laugh it off.

"Well what did I expect huh? I tried to be nice!" he joked as he sat down in the chair beside Duncan who glared at him and stormed off from the table without a word. Woah.. what was that about?

"Hey Man… you have something to say to me… you say it" Logan demanded as he followed him down the steps.

"Did you take the Money?" Duncan asked him angrily.. and there it was… Duncan standing in front of him but Veronica's words coming out of his mouth. The same disapproving look in his eyes, he turned up his mouth in disgust and walked away again.

"You were so drunk last night you wouldn't know if Kris Kringle had come in and took the Money" Logan snapped as he followed him.

"When did you get like this?" Duncan complained. What? NOW Duncan disapproved of his behaviour? NOW he cared to reel him in? After a fricking year? "It's like you have been going over to the dark side so slowly that I didn't notice until you became a full fledged JACKASS" he continued.

This was some amazing Veronica ventriloquist trick.. he would have to check Duncan for strings.

Jackass? She called him that all the time.

"What I'm a jackass?" Logan scoffed defensively, but honestly, the words hurt.. coming from Duncan… the last link he had to Lilly? He was his best friend, how could he think something like this of him?

"Yeah.. and I'm over it" Duncan spat before he walked away. _Over it? Had that bitch finally succeeded in coming between him and Duncan?_

He had to fix this… he had to fix it today.

He knew that the Super Sleuth was on the case from his chatting with Sean earlier… never before had he needed her annoying blondness to hurry up and do that Nancy Drew Stuff she did so well.

"What are we breaking up now?" Logan joked. It was his go to response when something was hurting him… be a Jackass was his default setting when emotionally threatened.

He had torn through the pool house again when he got home, mostly because he had been infuriated and surprised to find Keith Mars in his foyer talking to his mother and Deputy Sacks about some grotesque piece of pumpkin related art work… personally, Logan thought the carving of his dads head stabbed with a knife was a masterpiece but they had seemed pretty upset. Logan was annoyed at the state of his friendship with Duncan. He had been waiting on him to come back to the land of the living for an entire year… and when he did.. he was a Veronica carbon copy. He tried playing a few video games to burn off some of the tension.

"I love the smell of testosterone in the morning" that sexy sultry voice declared and for a moment, Logan had thought he had fallen asleep. He turned around to see Veronica Mars in the flesh, standing in his pool house.. he could tell this obviously wasn't a dream because wasn't wearing a skimpy naughty school girl uniform.

Was there no place sacred?

"This is why I suggested attack dogs… but no… my mother wanted an alpaca!" Logan declared as he looked at her.

"My father sent me with paperwork for you mom" she told him simply, producing a brown envelope.

"And you thought you would just call in and say hi?" he said sarcastically. Oh God… she was standing beside the poker table he had been imaging screwing her on not more than an hour ago as he had been resting from his raid on the other side of the room with his coffee.

"I wanted to ask you about the game" she said in a serious tone, putting the envelope down on the counter beside her.

Of course she did. It was always business with her.

As much as a jackass as he had been to her… not once in that entire year since Lillys death had she ever just called over to his house to hang out with him anymore or to say hi.

"And I've been meaning to ask you something" he declared, putting down controller. "Did your Super Sleuth kit come with a decoder ring? Do you have a pen that writes with invisible ink?" he asked theatrically. She glared at him again. _Was she standing beneath the mistletoe?_ He thought distracted. "Never mind… don't care.. Mush Mush…" he said pointing at the door.

She looked at him in frustration and turned to walk out when he had an idea…

"Hey Wait… " he called out after her. "Maybe you should talk to Connor" he said, flashing his eyebrows at her suggestively.

He knew from old posters in Lilly's bedroom that Veronica had a bit of a crush on Connor Larkin, Hollywood heartthrob and star of John Enbomns "A Magical Night In Rome" one of her favourite gushy rom-coms. He could maybe use this opportunity to send her home with her pulse racing… she might even get a little hot under the collar… then he could picture her later all flustered and horny.

"Connor? As in Connor Larkin?" she spluttered.

"He's a mortal believe me" Logan thought sullenly. He really didn't get the attraction… Logan had seen him with his shirt off last night.. and honestly there wasn't much difference between the two of them if only she would take the time to notice _. Why couldn't he have been swimming in the pool when she arrived?_

"He probably has a team of security to keep him safe from girls like me" she replied. Ugh..

"I honestly don't get it" Logan sighed as he pulled out his phone and called the movie set. "Hey Francisco.. its me Logan… hey could you get my friend.." the word was out of his mouth before he even realised, the two of them exchanged an awkward look "to get a drive on today to see Connor? Name is Veronica"

"Monica?"

"No Veronica… V… as in Virgin" he said looking at her obvious annoyance.

"Look at you all helpful" she said sarcastically.

 _Oh he could be helpful alright.. if she would take that ridiculous jacket off and climb into his lap he would be all kinds of helpful…_

"Hey.. your peskiness being unleashed on Connor.. brings me joy" he mused as he stood beside her… hadn't she noticed the mistletoe yet? Besides… he knew how flustered this little trip would make her. _Maybe she would have to take matters into her own hands today herself?_

She smiled politely and turned to leave.

"Annoy tiny blond one… Annoy like the wind!" Logan said as she walked away… he couldn't stop staring at her ass in those jeans all the way to the house. _Damn he had problems._

Veronica was definitely sure that Logan wasn't to blame for the money, that pool house looked like it had been raided by the FBI and Connor had seemed like an innocent chiselled Greek god… she honestly hadn't known they made actual humans in the flesh who looked like that. She called Wallace, her next lead was Sean and she needed to check his address. Her father was currently working on a stalker case at the Echolls house, some kind of crazed fan was threatening Aaron Echolls. Seems like they were both have Echolls Family Christmas issues this week. She needed to get that Diary back. Her visit out to Sean's house showed his father in a suit in the middle of the day at 3pm… that just didn't seem right. Why would he be that dressed up to sit at home? Why wasn't he at work?

Logan had tried sitting at lunch with Duncan today but he had blown him off and stormed away again. Was this ever going to end?

"Would you two kiss and make up already?" Sean complained.

He was just about to take his first taste of Pizza when there was again. Veronica… her breasts in her pink t-shirt were directly eye level with him as he sat at the table.

"Okay.. so here's the good/bad news" she declared proudly.

"Yeah?" Logan asked, sitting back, he would have said something more suggestive but Weevil had just followed closely behind her and Duncan was still standing right next to him.

"The good news is… I know who stole the money" she smiled. "The bad news is… I know who stole the money… so here is my brilliant holiday idea.. filled with holiday spirit. Logan will host another game" she beamed, smiling at him. Would she actually dress up for realz in a cigar uniform for him this time?

"I will?" Logan mused.

"I'm thinking tonight…" she declared.

"Nope… my mothers Christmas party is tonight" he declined.

"Okay so no BYOB.. here's what I'm thinking, I'll tell you who did it, and you buy me in using that persons buy in" she said as she slid into the seat beside him. The warmth of her was right next to him.. she was challenging him.. it was a dare. "I'll just take the place of whoever stole the money" she reasoned.

"You know.. even if you keep talking.. its not going to happen" Logan told her simply, he could just reach out and cup her face… would kissing her shut her up?

"Oh no…." she pouted "I thought you guys might all want your stuff back" she said in a teasing girly voice. It was the same tone his Fantasy Veronica used when she asked him to remove her imaginary panties with his teeth in his dreams.

"I get my $5000 grand you guys get your stuff back" Weevil declared and Duncan nodded.

"It's a bit of a no brainer.. whoever doesn't think this is a great idea.. is obviously the thief" she said pointedly. If he didn't do this.. he would look guilty. Check mate.

"Do you even know how to play poker?" he mused. If she didn't he was so going to suggest they strip again tonight.

"No… but it must be really hard if you know how to play" she said teasingly before she got up and walked away.

The Echolls family home was in full guest dazzling mode, with an army of red hat wearing waiting staff and the whose who of Neptune's Elite.

"Hey Veronica" Duncan said as she finally arrived, Logan had been waiting with the rest of them on her for the last twenty minutes.

"Ho… Ho.. Ho" Logan said as he looked directly at her.

"Hey" she said as she picked up the Jack Daniels bottle in front of Duncan and started to drain half the bottle.

"Damn girl" Weevil said in awe.

"Iced tea right?" she winked at Duncan who had started to blush.

Logan looked at Duncan in surprise, was he guilty?

"Duncan played drunk to win your money.. but he didn't steal your money" she explained. "Oh and Connor is innocent too.. its that tea he's drinking" she said dramatically as Veronica wandered around the table.

"And then theres bachelor number 3.. Logan. Looks like an evil doer. Smells like an evil doer.. surprisingly.. not so much. When I came in here earlier.. it looked like this place had been raided by the FBI. That only leaves Sean" she smiled.

"Sean?" Duncan spluttered.

"Yep.. turns out I nearly got THIS close to being able to say the Butler did it.. except it was the Butlers Son who did it" she said.

Veronica went on to explain how Sean had used those Ghetto brews of his to smuggle the money out in the trash that he collected the next day from the recycling. Logan had to admit… he was pretty impressed. They watched as Weevil took Sean outside for a little Chat about his repayment plan and Veronica slid into the seat beside Logan. Damn that Super Sleuth thing she did was sexy when you got to see her in action.

It was only made hotter when started to deal the cards at the table.. exactly like the Pros did in the Casino when he had been in Vegas with Dick and Beaver during the summer. _Talent hands… and she had completely wiped the floor with them all._

Damn she was even hotter than she had been this morning. She had bested him at his favourite game.

"Okay.. I say we take a break.. let the Cosmos realign because something is obviously up" Logan mused as he took the rest of his companions into the main house for some food.

"So I uh… you know" Duncan said awkwardly.

"Yeah.. I know" Logan smiled back.

"Sorry about the whole…" Duncan apologised but Logan stopped him.

"I've done plenty of other things" he admitted.

"So we are cool?" Duncan asked.

"Yeah.. yeah we are" Logan said, grateful that he hadn't just lost his best friend.

Veronica had just accused Jake Kane of being the one to hire someone to send those pictures to her mother when he had fled from the Echolls family study and confronted his wife Celeste. "What did you do?" he demanded.

"What?" Celeste hissed.

"Get your coat.. we are leaving" he growled.

Okay.. so perhaps she had been accusing the wrong Kane?

Lynn Echolls attracted everyone's attention to follow the hired Santa's outside to see the Snow Machine that they had organised and the choir which was singing Deck the Halls.

It all happened so fast, Veronica had seen her father Keith Mars briefly in the crowd before there was a scream as one of the waitresses dropped her tray and stabbed Logan's father, Aaron Echolls in the stomach. Her father had pulled the girl away moments too late, but before she could inflict anymore damage, she watched helplessly as Logan rushed to his father's side and started to dial an ambulance.

Keith Mars slapped the handcuffs he carried onto the woman's wrists to restrain her and Veronica looked at the floor to see the bloodied ice pick lying on the floor.

Nope.. there was no such thing as Santa Claus or a Merry Christmas in Neptune.


	11. Chapter 11

The days that passed after his dad had been stabbed had been some of the worst of his life, Logan hated the man but he was still his father… and the accusations of infidelity that lunatic had been sprouting had sent his mother on away on a four day Girls Week to the Neptune Country Club, he had mostly been alone and the phone hadn't stopped ringing and the paparazzi kept creeping around the gardens. He felt like he was trapped in a hamster cage.

His date with Mazie McCoy had been cancelled after the news of this E-String Woman Strangler had gotten around, most of Neptune's parents were keeping a tighter lease on their kids, but he hadn't been able to convince Ms McCoy to allow her daughter to come over after the stabbing at his house on Christmas.

It wasn't safe for kids to be alone in such a big house she had explained. Ironic.. since that's exactly why Logan had wanted her daughter to come over. So he wouldn't be alone.

Duncan's parents had been arguing a lot this week so he wasn't free to come over either.

He stared at Veronica's number that he now had saved in his phone… he could call her? She would probably use that soothing voice like she had for Troy in the car during their drive. Nope… he couldn't. That would be leading down a dangerous path, one that might end up with him saying or doing the wrong thing and Duncan would be really mad at him then. He had been dreaming about that night of the poker game, except now.. it was just the two of them.. she would reach across the table to collect her winnings and climb over into his lap and pull his shirt off… she would kiss along his neck and whisper his name.. then he would wake up to an empty house.

This was starting to drive him absolutely crazy.

He blamed her for Lillys death.. for reasons that didn't even make sense to him anymore.. if she hadn't ratted him out. Then he would have been there to save Lilly… and it was made even more confusing because of this intense attraction he was feeling. The heat wave lately wasn't helping… she wore a lot of skirts to school and it had been driving his hormones wild.

He hadn't see much of her after Christmas outside class until she went to Madison Sinclairs birthday party, he had been very drunk and very surprised to see her. She never came to 09er partys anymore. Not since last October to Shellys.. the night he had licked salt from her delectable neck and kissed that lime wedge from her mouth. He knew she preferred drinking Gin and Tonic from the little partys Lilly, Duncan and she had had with him in his pool house when their parents thought they were revising. He was going to go over and heckle her a little when he saw her chatting some guy… was he her date? Did Duncan know she was here?

By the time he had went to find his friend to look out for any potential Veronica drama related fallout he had seen her leaving in her car with Cindy "Mac" MacKenzie the girl who had fixed the Navigators computer for him a few months back.

The drama of the E-String Strangler hadn't stopped the party at Madisons from being a great night, in fact a few days later he was caught thanks to some local Deputy. Girl saved.. Amazing Keith Mars.. yada yada yada.

He was being dragged into the counsellors office tomorrow to talk about his feelings over Lillys death on the run up to the one year anniversary of her death. Veronica had actually been suspended, so that kind of made it a little easier to deal with. The full perp walk, it had made him amused to see her annoyed grimace as she was cuffed in front of the whole student body and marched out of school.

Logan wondered if Sheriff Lamb would be open to giving him a set of those, later that night.. the dream had evolved into her as a sexy prisoner in a jail cell and he was the prison officer… there honestly was no getting over these dreams now, so he just went with it. Handcuffs and Veronica Mars seemed like a great way to spend the evening, certainly not listening to his fathers agent on what to say if the press got a hold of his cell phone number again. His dad would be home tomorrow.

It wasn't until he was driving to school he realised why he was being given his own little publicity lesson from his dads agent. Someone had leaked details about his fathers affairs to the press. It was everywhere, in the newsstands, on the television, all over the gossip pages. This was the worst thing he could imagine… his families personal troubles all blasted around for tabloid fodder?

Someone had taped it to his Locker, and for once.. he couldn't blame Veronica for this. She was suspended.

"Hey… if it was me… I'd totally stick to doing your Moms" said Hector as Logan had looked angrily at the vandalism to his locker.

 _Since when was it okay to poke fun at peoples personal family troubles and tragedies?_

 _Since he had started doing it to Veronica after her mothers disappearance…._

Logan had ended up being picked up by his dad for fighting at school, and he was amazed his little fist fight hadn't ended up with being suspended himself.

"I'm proud of you son" Aaron Echolls had declared.

It was the first time he had ever said that to him… proud of him for behaving like a complete and utter animal and lashing out with his fists?

Of course he would think like that. Logan had behaved just like his father. Just like a complete Jackass. Half the school was whispering about him and the news about his parents.

 _How did Veronica deal with this every day?_

He hadn't wanted to come to school but he couldn't reschedule the appointment, so it was either stay at home with Aaron Echolls, the adulterous bastard, or face the student body at Neptune High. At least here they weren't praising him for acting like a complete asshole.

"Thanks for getting me out of a Calculus test Becky" he snarked as the guidance counsellor greeted him.

"Its Ms James… please, take a seat" she said politely.

He began to talk to answer her stupid questions until it got to the part about why he and Lilly had broken up.

"She stood me up for this party.. I got pretty hammered, and I kissed this other girl for like three seconds.. and someone saw me and told Lilly and she dumped me" he explained. "you must know her.. word is you are real close with her dad" he said knowingly.

"It sounds to me like you blame Veronica" Ms James observed.

Sounds like? Was she freaking kidding? He did blame Veronica…

"Veronica was my friend too… and if she hadn't ratted me out… then Lilly and I would have stayed together… and she wouldn't have alone that day… I would have been there" he declared. "So yeah.. I blame Veronica… and I blame myself for being stupid and I blame Lilly for being a bitch that week…"

He would never had admitted these things to Veronica… because maybe then she would have apologised finally.. and he would have forgiven her.

 _Perhaps that was the root of his problem… forgiving Veronica would mean he would have to forgive himself… and he wasn't able to do that.. so if he wasn't getting forgiven.. then neither was she._

"There's another way to look at this Logan" Ms James said softly. "If you had been with Lilly.. you might be dead too"

"And what is so great about Living?" he asked sobbing.

Veronica choked back a sob of her own as she listened to Logan's heartbroken confession over the radio from the bug she had planted in the staple on the guidance counsellor's desk. Seems he hadn't turned into such a heartless jackass after all… parts of Logan Echolls were broken too. This is just how his pieces held themselves together, he was angry too. Just like her.


	12. Chapter 12

Logan Echolls wandered around the house in his pjs, it had been two days since his mother's disappearance had been declared a suicide. He didn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. That bleach blond bitch taking up the airways with how she had seen his mother jump from the Coronado bridge was on every channel. There were press trying to sneaking into the pool house and rifle through their trash, he had finally instructed the housekeepers to use the giant outdoor fire pit near the pool in the garden to burn everything to stop them from doing it.

Duncan had been texting him most of the morning about what time the flower services were going to be arriving, seems because the Balboa County Sheriffs Department had given up the search for trying to recover some kind of…. Body.. that it meant it was official?

 _How can it be Officially ruled a suicide if there was no body?_

He clutched the small silver lighter he had found on her dresser and ran his thumb over the engraving. Free At Last. _Perhaps she had just ran away? That was possible right?_

"If you try to divorce me… I will leave you with nothing!" Aaron Echolls had threatened her.

"I can't take this anymore" she had told him before she had left, her white heels stomping angrily into the car park.

 _If she was going to run… surely she would have taken him with her?_

Logan was too numb to cry right now. She was just missing… she had escaped from his father that was all. The police had said that her credit cards were missing.. that was a clue right?

Nadia Alonso the family chef looked at him sympathetically, there were always staff here, it was too big a property to manage by yourself. She left a small chicken and mayonnaise sandwich on the counter but didn't really say anything, no one had said anything to him. His fathers suit was sitting on the couch, they would have to leave and go to the press conference soon.

His dad had had some of the script writer buddy of his draft some broken hearted widow speech that would look good for the cameras. He had heard his father's agent on the phone in the garden talking to their publicist about how this was a great opportunity to branch out into other genres while public sympathy was with the mourning aging movie star. A switch from Action movies to romantic crap like The Notebook or other Nicolas Sparks style projects could give his dad a new career direction. They hadn't even found a body… and these vultures were already trying to twist it to turn a profit?

Aaron Echolls hadn't left his room in two days, sitting around grieving like an old Italian lady. His dad's bio had said that his grandmother was half Italian, it had been used as the justification for his dad's various Mafia roles, even if he didn't exactly look the part.

 _God there was no people like show people…_ he thought as he picked up the telegram that Trina had sent. The wreath she had sent was all tulips and hyacinth, it was one of the biggest ones there, way to burn up daddy's credit card, even if she didn't bother thinking the death… no… disappearance of her step mother… his mother.. was a good enough reason to come home. She really was a self-absorbed bitch.

His father was being so theatrical about this… acting like he gave a damn.. like he hadn't just spent the last what? 17 years screwing all of his mothers friends behind her back? He had been trying to act like they had such great family memories together… didn't he realise he was the monster who terrorised this family? His mother had hated him… she had felt trapped in a loveless marriage, Logan had grown up in front of a camera lens…

"Have you heard from your sister?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah… she sent a telegram" Logan said mockingly as he told him the contents.

His father just sat on the end of his bed staring at a wedding photo of him and his mother and the door bell rang again.. he was seriously just leaving Logan to have to deal with all of these caterers?

"Fine… Don't get up" he said as he turned and went to deal with the "funeral reception" arrangements by himself.

"Logan.. I have a pretty good idea of what is going through your head" His father declared as the two of them stood by the front door ready to greet the press and head into the limo to go to the church memorial service. _Was it a good idea for Satan to enter a building with stained glass windows?_

Duncan had promised to meet him at the steps of the church when he arrived, he just had to make it there without punching his father in the face.

"I know you blame me for your mothers death.." Aaron told him. "That's ok… I blame myself, and I know this hard act that you are putting on is just your way of coping… Lets make a deal.. from now on, we are going to be a team. Our war is over now Logan" he said sadly. "It's what your mother would have wanted.."

Logan put on his sunglasses and made a mock Peace sign. His father rolled his eyes and the two of them went out into the garden, it was then Logan saw it, the glint from a camera of a photographer who had crept into the family estates front garden, enraged Logan chased him while his father called out for him to stop. He grabbed the camera and smashed it onto the floor, he was sick of these vultures… they treated everything that was happening to him like it was carrion.. if his mother WAS dead… then how dare they?

"Logan!" his father scolded, the chorus of the other paparazzi were standing by the gates, great… more fucking camera's. "Logan Enough!" Aaron barked as he pulled Logan away from the photographer before he could punch him.

"You know what Mom would have wanted dad?" Logan spat, the anger was finally at the point where he couldn't contain it anymore. "She would have wanted you not to sleep with all of her friends, she would have wanted you not to have affairs, she would have wanted you to give as much a damn about her… as you did about your career… maybe we wish we BOTH had of been different" he said brokenly… certainly his behaviour over the last year and getting in trouble over those Bum Fights hadn't helped his mother's state of mind either… "But she's only gone because of you…." Logan sobbed before he headed back to the house, pulling out his phone to plead with Duncan to come to the house.

Logan spent the rest of the afternoon doing the happy funeral director crap.

"The family thanks you… and I thank you… my mother thanks you.." he said sarcastically.

"Good god Harvey… this is my wife's funeral" Aaron scolded as his agent tried to get him to sign a contract for some movie.

"Hey Harvey.. we don't want to inconvience you with this funeral thing.. can I get you something? A mimosa? A finger sandwich? A TISSUE?" Logan snapped… he had to get out of here. He went to his room.

"Logan… what are you doing?" Duncan asked when he arrived upstairs eventually.

"Thank's for coming.. really means a lot to the family" he said sarcastically.

This was all wrong. She wasn't gone.. he was sure of it. His mother's credit cards had been missing, you don't jump of a bridge with your platinum card.. he would find her _. She had just escaped… it was genius really right? The greatest FUCK YOU to Aaron Echolls.. let the world think he had driven his wife to suicide because of those affairs?_

"Logan.. I'm starting to get a little worried" Duncan told him as he looked at him like he was slowly losing his mind.

"It's not her funeral.. because shes not dead" Logan smiled.

"Logan…" Duncan sighed helpless.

The computer opponent slayed his character so Logan dropped the controller and laughed.

"Now I'm dead. None of this matters man.. don't worry" he told him as he got up and went to get the lighter to show him.. the proof. "This lighter was always in her purse… it was a message.. she didn't jump off a bridge… she hated all of this… she hated him… she just escaped" he smiled.

Duncan looked at him in sympathy again.. like he was in denial or something… he would see. Logan would prove it.

"They didn't find a body… because she's not dead" he declared boldly.

Duncan didn't say anything after that, he just hugged him and asked him if he had eaten anything.. honestly, Logan couldn't remember so Duncan had left to get him something to eat it was then that he decided that he would wait until all this charade was over and he would sneak out later. He might not have the first idea of where to look, or how to start.. but he knew someone who did. He had seen her in action at Christmas.. Finally maybe after all this watching her play Dick Tracy at school her peskiness could be useful.

Veronica Mars had been standing in her kitchen making herself a coffee when there was a knock at her door, her thoughts were heavy. She knew from the news that Lynn Echolls body hadn't been found, she had been reading the reports on her laptop. She had left a note…

Mother abandons child and just leaves a note… vanished without a trace…. She could sympathise, she knew exactly how that felt… but at least her mothers disappearance wasn't being plastered all over the news. Her car hadn't been found abandoned on a bridge. She had wanted to go.. to sit beside him and hold his hand, to be there for him the way they had both been there for Duncan at Lilly's funeral, but she knew it was the last thing he would have wanted, he hated her, so she would give him his privacy.

Logan wasn't even really sure what he was going to say. He hated having to admit he needed anything from anyone… especially not from someone who hated him as much as he hated her. She hadn't even bothered to call him to check if he was okay. She hadn't even shown up at the church as far as he had heard from Dick and Beaver. The not knowing where his mother was, was slowly killing him… how had Veronica done this for months?

"Do you have any idea where your mother is? Do you have any clue?" he had teased her on their first day back at school. _He had been such a bastard…_

He wrapped his jacket around himself to resist the urge to pull her to him… apart from Duncan.. no one had really held him… not the way they had held each other at Lilly's funeral… not tight enough to hold all of the shattered pieces of themselves together as their worlds had fallen apart.

"Logan?" Veronica asked in disbelief as he stood in her doorway. "What are you doing here?" she asked softly _. I need your help Veronica.. I need you…. Isn't that obvious?_

"I want you to find my mother" he told her finally. _Her lips parted in surprise… what was that look she had? What did that mean?_

 _If she sent him away.. if she thought he was crazy like Duncan had when he had suggested they call that Vinnie Van Lowe guy.._ but that would have created an invoice his dad might have found.

Veronica's heart broke for Logan as he stood looking lost in her doorway. "Relax.. I'm not asking you to dredge the lake…" he said rolling his eyes. But he would eventually if they didn't get answers soon.. he would do whatever it took. Even having to come here and plead for her help. "My mother didn't really kill herself" he declared, clutching the lighter tighter in his hand.

"Logan… come inside" she said softly. He did as she asked and he looked around the small apartment.. the entire thing was about the size of his pool house.

"Veronica… She is not dead" he told her firmly. _Please don't just tell me I'm crazy…_ he begged silently.

"What makes you think she's still alive?" Veronica asked him carefully.

"Why does everyone assume she's dead?" he complained. "They didn't find a body…"

"What about the woman who says she saw her jump?" she suggested softly. "I heard there was a note?"

"She want's people to think she's dead…" he told her. She was starting to get that same look that Duncan had earlier. _Why couldn't she just be super sleuth for him just this once when he needed her to be?_

"Her credit cards were missing… doesn't that seem like… I don't know… a clue?" he pleaded.

He watched her process that information and bite her lip.

"Logan I…" she began softly.

"I know my mother!" he snapped, pointing the small silver lighter at her.

Veronica looked at the determination in his face… he needed this.. even if he was wrong.. he needed to know one way or another. So she would help him… he need answers, and she needed to be there for him in whatever way he would allow her. No one else could do this for him.

"Okay" she relented and he sighed in relief, clinging to something small and metal in his hands. Whatever it was.. it was giving him faith that there was more to this… who was she to deny someone else's theories? Her instincts told her though that this wouldn't end well… but perhaps she could shield him from the worst of it better than someone else who didn't give a damn about him. He was determined and if she couldn't dissuade him, then she would do this as quickly as possible.

"If she was really going to do the deed.. it would sleeping pills and chardonnay… she wouldn't risk being found bug eyed and bloated in a shrimp net" he told her firmly.

"I'll see what I can find out" she promised, Logan felt the relief surge through him. He wasn't going to say thank you… she had still abandoned him.. this was just a job to her.

"You know… I just need to know she's okay" he told her, forcing himself to the door before he did something insane like pick her up and kiss her in gratitude, the bitch would love that.

Veronica watched as he left, it was a problem she knew all too well. The not knowing had been driving her insane until she had gotten that voicemail from her mother a few weeks ago.

Logan wandered around the school in a daze most of the morning, his teachers didn't really expect him back so soon and the guidance counsellor had been trying to convince him to go home, to give himself more time… but Veronica was here, and he hadn't been updated yet. Where was she?

"Is it a good read?" he asked as he saw her rifling through a file outside in the food court. What could possibly be more important than finding the answers he had hired her for? Unless she hadn't bothered her ass…

"Logan" she said in surprise, she hadn't been expecting him at school either it seemed.

"Any news?" he prodded.

"I put out alerts on all your mothers credit cards, I've checked all the airports and shipping lanes and rentals to check if theres been any activity" she explained as she smiled weakly at him.

"Meaning?" he didn't speak fluent Private Eye.

"Meaning.. a friend of my fathers will text message me if any of the cards are used" she elaborated. What could he possibly be doing here? She had been planning to leave earlier and skip study hall to update him before the whole Carrie Bishop and their history teacher sex accusations had erupted around school. She was lying.. and Veronica would prove it.

"And the woman whose been all over the news… is giving her official statement down at the Sheriffs Office tomorrow" she continued. The information seemed to ease something in him… had he thought she would really just ignore this?

"Opportunistic Hag" he cursed.

"Yeah.. well I am going to call down tomorrow and see if she's up for a little chat" Veronica promised.

"Okay… well I will go with you" Logan told her.

 _With her? As in… investigate this together?_

"Uh… that's not really how this works…" she declined as she started to walk away. "It will be better if I do this on my own… despite popular opinion you really cant beat the truth out of someone.."

"Well what are you going to stop me with?" he challenged, following her. _If she thought he was just going to stand on the sidelines… she was wrong. He wasn't built that way… he would find out the truth alone if he had to._

"Force of will? Tenacity? Karate chop?" she mused, but he wouldn't go away no matter how quickly she increased her pace.

"Look… I will know if she is lying.. you WONT" he told her firmly.

"Fine…" she sighed. "I've got a plan…"

A plan? She had a plan for getting that fame hungry bitch to just spill her deepest darkest secrets that she was lying about his mother?

"A plan? Yeah I'm sure you do…" he scoffed, he watched as something else caught her attention and she disappeared.

"Hey Carrie!" she called out.

"I'll just… see you tomorrow then?" he complained.

 _Bitch._

Logan much preferred the Fantasy Veronica, in his dreams she had used her Veronica Magic to track down his mother in a few hours and the three of them had met at the airport and he was sunning himself on a beach in Havana with his mother smiling sipping on a cocktail enjoying how her plan had worked in sticking it to Aaron Echolls once and for all. Fantasy Veronica had spent the rest of the night declaring her undying loyalty to him promising that they never leave each other again. That being with him was the only thing that mattered to her.

Truthfully, he wasn't sure how good an idea of spending so much time with the real Veronica was going to be. His little make-believe version of their relationship had been what had gotten him through the last few months of them being back at school. He didn't want to have to get to close to the reality version.

His father had fired his agent and had been making a big deal out of trying to get Logan to attend grief counselling with him as a family.. to "repair" the relationship that they had never had now that his mother was gone. The scars that the man had given him would never be fixed by any amount of talking.. Logan wanted nothing to do with him. As soon as he was able.. he was going to get away from him just like his mother.

"You okay?" Duncan asked, he had noticed that Logan and Veronica had been spending time together today, but he hadn't asked why. He probably knew.

"Yeah… just… taking it one day at a time" Logan said sarcastically. That had been the advice people had kept giving him, and honestly, if someone gave him that little head tilt and looked at him with those pitying eyes and asked him if he was okay again, he was going to fucking scream.

"We should sit here" Veronica told him the following day while they sat in the reception area of the Sheriffs Department.

 _What were they even doing here?_ He thought. _Shouldn't they be out like putting up posters or tracking down the witnesses from beyond the bridge? This woman was obviously lying._

It had been about twenty minutes and they had barely spoken.

"We should do this more often.." Veronica mused as she crossed her legs.

 _We shouldn't have to be doing this at all if you would just do your job…._ Logan thought.

There she was.. leaving Lamb's office. That vile trailer trash harpy who was spreading all those lies about his mother.

"Down boy!" Veronica said, putting her hand on his arm to keep him in his seat. "Here" she said, handing him a small earpiece.

 _An earpiece?_

"White trash walking" she whispered into a small device tucked onto her wrist.

Logan looked at her in confusion… _who was she talking to?_

"I know.. Gadgets and all" she said as Logan put the listening device into his ear.

He listened eagerly as someone claiming to be a reporter solicited the woman in the corridor for a story.

"What's your offer?" the bitch questioned.

"Depends on what you have to give… did she look beaten up? Drunk?" the voice pressed.

"If you like" the hag agreed.

 _Oh that was it!_ Logan jumped from his seat and started to shout at her and Veronica pulled him away.

"You make up lies about my Mom?" he called. He was seething.

"Hey… finding out what that woman was about is a good thing" Veronica assured him. "Stay calm…" she told him.

"Hey.. " a dark haired deputy said awkwardly and he watched as Veronica looked a little embarrassed, guilty.

 _So she was capable of recognising when she had been wrong? Interesting._

Logan was not in the mood to deal with the stab of jealousy on top of everything else he was already feeling right now.

"I have to take care of something.. I'll be back in two seconds" she promised.

 _Sure… go take care of someone else…again… it's not like I need you…_ he thought bitterly. Yeah.. Mixing Fantasy Veronica with Reality Veronica had been a bad move. He just wanted to go home..

"Hey Deputy" Veronica said as she flirted with Leo D'amato.

"What do you want Veronica?" Leo complained, she had gotten him in trouble for taking evidence to files while he had been distracted. He had almost lost his job because of her.

"A chance to explain.." she said softly.

"What is there to explain? You used me" Leo accused her. Isnt that what Veronica did? Used people until she had no further use for them? Logan thought bitterly as he listened from the hallway.

"I used you.. then fell for you" she replied.

 _Oh god… he wasn't hearing this…_ he stormed off to wait outside.

He had almost considered telling her to forget the whole thing when he found the article in the coffee shop the next morning a tabloid article from some woman who had claimed his mother had gotten into a Van with a mysterious stranger on the bridge. Way to go Mom… he had to get this woman's details.

Veronica had been on the phone when he arrived at her fathers office… he had never been in Mars Super Sleuth Central before, he took in the surroundings… no doubt at some point his little Fantasy Veronica would be seducing him on that table he saw Veronica standing in front of. The stained glass made her look even more like an angel than she usually did. An avenging angel sure.. but a heavenly creature nonetheless.

"Penicillin would clear that problem right up" he snarked. There she was.. doing something other than finding the article he had come to show her.

"Cant say I was expecting you.." she said in mild surprise, going to sit behind her desk.

Logan went and put the article down in front of her cheerily.

"There… is a woman who says she saw my mom, getting into a car with a mysterious stranger" he smiled happily.

"There's also a tribe that worships Donald Trumps hair… Just.. I don't want you to get your hopes up" she said carefully.

"I am not paying you to worry about my hopes.." he scolded. _If only you knew the things I hoped for… you'd laugh in my face._ "I am paying you to follow leads"

"I wasn't aware you were paying me…" she said disappointed.

"This… is a … job.. nothing more…" he told her, but he wasn't sure if he was more reminding himself instead. "This isn't a favour.. we aren't exchanging friendship bracelets" She would have to have been his friend first for to have counted.

"I'll stop braiding" she said sarcastically, reviewing the article. _Like she had ever even started?_

"Look.. just do whatever it is you do… and track her down" he instructed.


	13. Chapter 13

Logan waited around long enough to make sure that Veronica had chased down the lead he had found, they would be meeting at Espresso Yourself in about an hour and Logan couldn't bare to be spending so much time in the Mars Office with Keith Mars in the room just next door. If he hadn't uncovered that it was his mother who had leaked the affair stories to the press… then his parents wouldn't have argued. His mother wouldn't have stormed off. If he had just done his fucking job as Sheriff then Lillys dead body wouldn't be plastered all over the internet… if he hadn't gone after Jake Kane so aggressively, then he wouldn't have lost Veronica as his friend because she wouldn't have had to choose between them.

If he hadn't saved fathers life at Christmas… his mother might not have had to fake taking her own.

Veronica had arranged to meet the woman from the article by pretending to be an authenticator for another publication interested in sharing her story.

"Can you tell me how much you were paid for your last story?" Veronica asked.

"Oh I wasn't paid… I just wanted people to know the truth.. that woman… lying all over the news… it's not right" she said passionately.

Logan sighed in relief… they would get answers now. She hadn't asked for any money.. she just wanted to tell the truth. He was sitting just directly behind them so he could hear everything.

"Can you describe the van?" Veronica probed further, she was worried, so far all her instincts were telling her this woman was certifiable.

"Honestly, I was just so excited to see Lynn" she gushed before Veronica pressed her for a description. "Oh…it's the one from the pursuit of happiness"

"The same model?" Veronica asked.

"No… the exact same van…" she exclaimed happily.

It was then the penny dropped for Logan finally… the woman was crazy. She hadn't see his mother at all.. she was a deluded super fan.. like one of those whack jobs who claimed to see Elvis in their toast or that they were the children of aliens. His mother was gone… his one last piece of hope was gone…. He stumbled from his chair and hid around the corner, gasping…. He wouldn't cry right now.. he wouldn't cry…

Veronica excused herself and followed him.

"I would have done the same thing…" she told him.

"Done what?" he asked angrily.

"If it was my mother… I would have let myself believe that story…" she said sorrowfully.

He said nothing… he couldn't… the ground was going to open up and swallow him… and she was standing too far away to catch him… this was the Real Veronica… not the one from his fantasies.. not the one who gave a damn about him… he was alone. He turned and fled up the stairs, he had to get to his car… he needed to get somewhere open with more air…. He bumped into several people as he stumbled up the stairs.

 _Was he wrong?_

Veronica didn't follow him, she still wanted to try and get more information out of the witness, and she could tell he wanted to be by himself for moment.

"What's wrong with him?" Weevil snarked as Logan had almost knocked him over. "He lose a Pukka shell or something?"

"No.." she sighed, her heart breaking for her former friend. "Just the last piece of hope that his mother was still alive" she explained.

Weevil felt like an asshole, he knew what it was like to hope for a parents safe return, his own mother Clarita Navarro had gone missing after his 12th birthday only to show up overdosed a few weeks later. He had heard rumours flying around about a Video of Lynn Echolls apparent skydive into the Coronado River. He would poke around a little for her.. see what he could dig up.

Things at home with her father had been tense since the rivalry over the sex scandal case at School. Both she and her father were on opposite sides, the Bishops had hired her dad to prove the story was true… and Veronica was trying to prove that Mr Brooks was innocent. It had created a lot of tension in the household and Veronica had been less than pleased with his little paint bomb in the safety deposit box prank.

"Tell me where to put your father of the year Trophy" she grumbled. "Because there is some place Id LIKE to put it"

"Veronica… you don't have to get all blue in the face" he joked.

"Are you patronizing me?" she snarled.

He agreed to hand over the dates and times of Carries diary for the alledged trysts.. and a little while later Veronica broke into the Kane's family doctors office to get the information on Duncan's mysterious illness she had uncovered during her game of Bug in the Stapler in Ms James' office. She had also found a file on Abel Koontz.. this wasn't a coincidence.. she didn't believe in coincidence.

She sat in front of her computer updating her files, all her time with Logan this week had made her wish that they were working on this case together too. It certainly would have made her feel less alone tonight. She couldn't get him off her mind. She couldn't imagine the pain he was going through. Weevil approached her the following morning and told her about a video some freshmen were claiming proved that Lynn Echolls jumped, she pleaded with him to get that disk at all costs. The little twerp had been claiming he was going to make millions.

She cornered Carrie Bishop and told her she knew the holes in her story, she had been at an overnight track meet in Sacramento one of the nights she claimed to have been with Mr Brooks. She was going to take this lying bitch down. Veronica had done her usual thing during the hearing that the ripped at the holes in Carries testimony. Mr Brooks was exonerated after lunch.

It wasn't until she looked deeper into the significance of those SK initials that she realised Sweet Knees actually stood for Susan Knight, Carrie Bishops best friend. Tracking down the lead she found that Susan was pregnant. She had been on the wrong side all along. She found Carrie later the following morning and told her she was going to help put things right.

Weevil called her into the computer lab and told her he had found their little wannabe millionaire. She was bracing herself for the worst, hopefully this would end up just being nothing.

Logan had barely slept last night… he hadn't even been able to conjure his own Veronica after everything yesterday… it was just constant repeats of the last words his mother had ever spoken to him.

"I can't take this anymore"

He didn't even know what that suicide note had said, it had been taken as evidence and his father hadn't mentioned it.

Thoughts of that morning Lilly and his mother had planned a surprise birthday breakfast for him before they had went and bought him a new surfboard together for his 15th birthday kept playing in his mind. Now they were both gone and his heart was broken. His dad had taken a tire iron to that board after he had missed a photoshoot a few months later and broken it beyond repair.. just like he had taken a wrecking ball to everything good that ever came into Logan's life.

 _What was the point of it all?_

Duncan had driven him to school that morning and had been doing his best to keep him together. He supposed it was his friends turn to deal with Zombie Echolls instead, maybe he should just skip his classes today and get wasted? He had been thinking that very thought when he was paged by Veronica.

 _What could she possibly want now?_

"You wanted to see me?" he demanded, surprised to see Nathan Colbys younger brother and Weevil waiting in the room as well.

"It seems Hart here has something to show us" Veronica told him as the young freshmen produced a disc and Logan came in to stand beside her next to the computer. Okay.. she had is attention.

"Me and my buddys were shooting down by the bay…" he droned on.

"Get to the point" Veronica snapped.

"We were editing it together… and we noticed something" he said inserting the disc into the computer. Several minutes of footage played and Veronica's heart sank as she noticed something she wished she had really vetted now before she had called Logan to see.

"What? It's badly shot.. it sucks" Logan complained.

"Play it again… frame by frame" Veronica sighed. She should have looked at this first. Taken the time to prepare him.

Hart did as she asked.

"See? There… on the bridge" he said as the small figure could be seen going into the water.

"Holy shit…" Weevil swore.

"It was shot at 4.37pm.. about the time she allegedly… Jumped" Hart told them.

Logan felt sick… he guessed it was true… every significant or tragic moment of his life revolved around being caught on a fricking camera, caught for posterity and on display for the world to see.

"This footage better NEVER make it out for public consumption" Veronica warned.

"Oh… Hart here knows that it's in his best interest that that doesn't happen" Weevil threatened as he dragged the boy out into the corridor.

She cast a careful look up at Logan who was almost staggering backwards in shock.

"I'm sorry…" she told him.

"Yeah…. So am I" he replied weakly, the walk back to his car passed in a blur… his mother had jumped… he had saw it…

Veronica came chasing after him.

"Logan… Logan…" she called.

He didn't want to talk to her… he couldn't break down here in this place… in front of all these whispering privileged fame hungry bastards and their smart phones. If she held him… he would break.

"Your mothers missing credit card was just used" she declared.

Veronica asked Duncan to drive Logan home and went to her History class with Carrie, the two of them got to watch Mr Brooks being escorted off campus by the local security, Susan was too old for it to count as Statuary rape, but at least he had been forced to resign.

Now her game of Mars vs Mars was over with her father, she could redouble her efforts into finding Logan's mother, or at the very least discover who had been using those credit cards. She had messed up twice today… and she didn't want to let him down again. She had told Abel Koontz she knew he was dying, that she was closing in on the real killer. She was failing Logan… she wouldn't fail him again by leaving this case unsolved.

Logan met with Veronica eagerly at breakfast the following morning as they poured over the financial records she had managed to get a hold of somehow. He had all of her attention now, that beautiful sharp mind was thinking only of the one thing he needed.. getting answers about his mother.

Credit card statements. 14 of them.

"This is the only one that's active. Lynn Lester, it's in her maiden name" Veronica explained.

"My mothers weapon of choice…" he sighed as he reviewed the balance history. "She could be trying to hide" he suggested.

"It's hard to know for sure.. but I will keep digging" she promised.

She didn't have to keep looking into this… she didn't have to be being so gentle with him… he thought.

"Dude.. if I was paying Veronica Mars… I would thinking of doing something that would be making me look a lot happier than you right now" Dick had joked when he had driven them to school this morning.

"The only purchase so far was a car rental, but there was no CCTV at the point of sale" she told him as she explained the car had been a red benz convertible. His mother's preferred style and colour.

It all sounded very promising, it was hope.. and he was going to cling to it. Even if his Fantasy Veronica hadn't come back.. he was liking this real version a whole lot more.

"Ill let you know if she strikes again" Veronica said simply as she got up and left the table, he wasn't quite sure why, but he followed her again. He just wanted to be near her. She smiled awkwardly and looked around at the strange stares they were getting. He didn't seem to notice.

He couldn't bite his tongue any more.

"Hey Veronica… thanks… for helping out with this" he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. He wanted to pull her closer but he didn't know how she would react.

"I know what it's like" she said softly and he nodded in understanding.

Of course she did… and she'd had no one to help her. He'd been such a jackass and the guilt felt like a giant ball in his stomach, he felt eyes on them and looked to see Duncan staring strangely at them both, he tucked his hand back into his pocket and walked away.

Duncan teased Veronica about the little exchange in the hallway as she came in to stare in horror at the shiny Paper Mache vines of hearts littering the gym.

"If I didn't know any better.. I'd swear I just saw my best friend… ask you to the dance" he probed.

"Uh… no" Veronica denied. She probably would have preferred that.. in an alternate universe anyway… anything to help take Logan's pain away and end the uncertainty.

The crank caller striked again and she spent the rest of the morning listening to Meg Manning go on about her mysterious secret admirer. One more case to be solved. She began investigating a case of a missing Tom Cruz for Mars Investigations as well and spent the evening hanging out with Wallace. Sometimes she wondered if she should be trying to solve the case of the Missing Veronica Mars' Normal Teen Life. Seemed the best way to find Mr Cruz, was to find his strange dog Steve.

The credit card user struck again during dinner, and the plot thickened.

A hotel suite in Atlanta was just booked using Lynn Lester's remaining active card. She called Logan to meet her at the sunset regent.

Logan paced the hotel lobby waiting for Veronica to arrive and almost had to pinch himself when she came practically skipping into the lounge area and almost jumped into his arms.

"Sorry Honey… I know I'm late" she said in a chirpy happy voice as she kissed him on the cheek and threw her arms around his neck.

 _Was he asleep?_

"Go with me here… guys a bit prickly.. I spoke to him on the phone" she whispered softly as he stared at her in confusion and led him to the check in desk. _What was happening exactly?_

She had looked her hand around his arm and was holding his hand.

 _Was she going to book them a room?_ He must have been dreaming… Duncan would kill him if he did this.

"May I help you?" asked the manager.

"My fiancé and I would like to look at your honeymoon suites" Veronica said happily, slipping the giant fake diamond ring onto her finger as she let go of Logan's hand.

 _Fiancé? Wow.. this was escalating quickly._

The manager produced a brochure of their more _affordable_ packages and began to talk down to them a little. Prick.

"OH… no… THIS is more of what I had in mind" said Veronica snidely as she pulled out a satin covered wedding planner with lots of different samples and styles of rooms… it looked like something a bridezilla had produced and had been collecting since age 4.

"Wow Sugarpuss… you have certainly been a busy little bee" he said mockingly as she turned and smiled conspiratorially at him. He cast an embarrassed look to the Manager. "Oh… she's a keeper"

The manager produced a list of the luxury suites and Veronica began to tear through the list like she was rejecting wall paper samples.

"How much is this one?" she declared.

"Ah.. our princess suite.. that's $12000 a night... private elevator access and fully equipped with everything a newly wed couple neds" he said proudly.

"Can we see it?" she asked pleasantly.

"I'm sorry… I'm afraid the suite is currently occupied" he apologised.

 _A hotel suite… in the right price range for the amount charged on his mothers credit card in her maiden name.. with a private elevator access.. currently occupied?_

Now he saw where Veronica was going with this.

"Could we maybe just call up to the room?" Logan asked eagerly.

"I'm sorry… our guest has insisted on her complete privacy" he lamented. _Privacy?_

Veronica thanked the man for their time after he refused to break protocol and allow them a peek upstairs.

His mother was up there.. Logan was sure of it.

"Wait here.. I'm going to get the maintenance guys to…" Veronica began but Logan interrupted.

"I got it from here…" he said, sitting down on the couch opposite the private elevator. He would sit here until his mother came out of those doors. If Veronica hadn't had another few cases to worry about she would have insisted on staying with him or trying the service elevator.

"Call me if you need anything" she told him before she left.

The florist had been a bust, he couldn't describe the person who had left the flowers, but Veronica had almost tracked down the right vet for her Tom Cruz. She and Meg had called in to visit her favourite local Deputy Leo to get him to track down a number for her so she could get his address.

It wasn't until they were at the party at Chads house she and she was approached by Duncan to ask where Logan was that she realized she hadn't heard from him all day.

"Do you know what's going on with Logan?" he asked.

"What? Why?" she asked.

"Well he's camped out at a hotel lobby in Atlanta" Duncan told him.

"He's still there?" she gasped. It had been almost 16 hours. "I'll deal with it" she said, apologizing to Meg and leaving. _What was he still doing down there? How could she have been as foolish to have not checked in with him before now?_

"Logan?" she asked softly as she saw him still sitting in the same position where she had saw him last. "You know you can't sit here forever…" she reasoned. Did he even hear her? She settled to sit onto the coffee table in front of him.

"What do you say we smoke her out?" Veronica declared.

Logan watched as Veronica pulled out her phone and reported the card as stolen and then settled onto the chair beside him, she barely said anything, she just wrapped her fingers in between his and held his hand and rubbed his back as they waited.

Veronica noticed the short slim black coat figure leave from the Elevator, it looked like something Lynn Echolls would wear, the stylish shoes, the hat, the fitted expensive coat. She tap Logan's arm and watched as he leapt from the seat.

"Mom?" he called, his heart was racing. _He knew it.. he knew it…_

And then Veronica watched in horror as the woman turned and it was an Echolls alright.. it was Trina, Logan's adopted sister. Her heart broke for him, how many times did he have to find out that his mother was gone?

"Did you just call me Mom?" Trina asked sarcastically. "You do know she's Dead right?"

"You're supposed to be in Australia" Logan accused her.

"Well that didn't exactly work out did it?" she complained. "But don't worry, I'm heading home now… someone finally cancelled Mom's credit cards"

"Where _were_ you?" he demanded. _She had left him to deal with all of this alone… wasn't she supposed to be his sister?_ "Dad could have used you…" he scolded.

"Dad? Isn't he the big bad wolf? Cigarette burns and broken noses? Now you are worried about his welfare?" Trina mocked. "The lies you used to tell"

Veronica listened in on the little exchange between the siblings in dismay.

"Wow… we really should do this more often" Logan told her bitterly. She had to rescue him from this..

"Logan… " she said quietly.

"Oh Veronica!" Trina said, realising she was here. "Is this like some kind of after party? Did you two get a room here?" she teased and studied Logan's face. "Are you two like a thing now?"

"Stop.. you shut up" Logan spat at her.

"Logan.. we should get going" Veronica said, putting herself between the warring siblings.

"Oh Veronica.. look at you.. we should hang out while I'm in town" Trina said before Veronica turned and started to move Logan towards the door.

"Come on Logan… let's go" she encouraged, he had grown quiet now, they barely made it until Trina had walked out of their direct line of sight before his legs buckled and Veronica watched as he sank to the floor sobbing his heart out. She reached her arms around him and cradled him to her shoulder, following him to the floor and rubbing his back.

"She's gone…" he cried, and there it was Veronica thought… the bitter acceptance.

"She's gone" Logan cried as he felt her arms wrapping around him, he didn't fight it anymore, that wall he had been building against the grief of losing Lilly, of losing their friendship, of losing his mother.. he felt it all come tumbling down. He let himself curl up against her, let her hold him. It felt like her petite arms were the only thing stopping the pain from inside him ripping him completely apart. They left the hotel suite and she pulled over by the side of the road with him, they climbed into the back seat and she just held him while the wounds opened and all the pain came pouring out.

Veronica had never felt so helpless in her life as she did right now, he wasn't just broken.. he had been obliterated, and there was nothing she could do, she began sobbing quietly as she rubbed his back and she felt him shaking. She didn't know how long they stayed that way, but eventually she got out her phone and called Duncan to meet her at the Kane's house. He couldn't go home tonight… not after what she had witnessed with Trina and heard about his father. He needed to be with people who loved him, that night spent in the Kane's family backyard in the garden furniture set while the three of them sat together was probably the first time they had all _really_ been together since Lilly's funeral. She had curled up next to him on the sun lounger, spooned against his back, her arms around him until he cried himself into exhaustion while Duncan went to talk to his parents about letting him spend the night. She had left him curled there asleep and brushed her hand through his hair and left a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"There's still people who love you" she whispered as he lay sleeping and she turned to go home before Celeste Kane discovered she was here.


	14. Chapter 14

Logan had left the house to go to the Eclipse of the Heart Dance mostly to avoid being left home alone with Trina and his dad.. the pain of losing his mother was too fresh to be in that battle zone and at least at the dance he could be around the one person who had actually been there for him. He had heard from Duncan this morning that he was waiting on seeing if Meg Manning was going to show up for his little blind date idea… If that meant Duncan was moving on… maybe he could ask Veronica to dance? Anything to be curled back up against her… it's the only place he had found that offered any kind of safe haven from the abyss that had become his life.

"There's still people who love you…" her voice had whispered to him, but he hadn't known if it was real or just his dream Veronica… either way, he had decided that make-believe or the real Veronica. He wanted Veronica. He could admit it to himself now… he needed her around.. needed that smile lighting up his days.

If Duncan was interested in Meg finally after all that time Logan hadn't been certain he was over Veronica… surely he wouldn't mind if he.. if he what? What exactly was he thinking? He had no idea what her being there for him last night meant.. but he wanted to find out.

Duncan and Meg had been dancing when he arrived and Veronica had been standing with her arms around that guy from the Sheriff's office a few days ago. Logan went a little crazy after that, he took himself back to Dick's car and drank all of the stuff in his hipflask… and Beavers which usually sat untouched in the back. He was fairly hammered by the time he decided it was too hot and he was going to take off his pants. Fine… this was a party… lets party. He would party like it was 1999.

"Wang Chung Everybody! Wooow!" He declared. "Wang Chung or I'll kick your ass" he snapped.

There she was… he thought happily as Veronica grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him into the corridor. Wasn't that her thing? Didn't she come running to the rescue?

"Come on Logan… just give me your keys" she pleaded. She didn't know that he didn't actually have keys but it was fun watching her try and feel him up awkwardly while she tried to find them. "Leo… could you follow us in your car?" she asked.

"No! That's not how you party like it's 1999" Logan argued. It was then he actually looked at Leo and he felt a stab of Jealousy.. he recognised him…

 _"I used you… then fell for you"_

"Wait who is this dude?" Logan asked possessively, trying to figure out if it was going to be worth the beating his dad would give him if he decided to threaten an officer of the law to stay away from His Veronica. _She could use him if she wanted…_

"Logan… when did you stop wearing pants?" Trina complained. There she was… the Cruella De-Vile character in his 101 daily miseries. "Let's go…"

"Only if I can puke in your car" he retorted and was glad that he was wearing such thick black sunglasses and Veronica couldn't see the hurt disappointed look in his eyes as he left her to her… what was it.. a date?

Fantasy Veronica it would have to be tonight… and she was going to be dressed like an 80s Siren.. she looked really hot in that outfit. Logan fricking loved the 80s. The movies were better, the music was epic and it was all about Love for the Ages.

 _Couldn't she just drag him home instead of Trina?_

 _Oh wait… that's why._ He thought as he saw her wrap her arms around The Friendly Neighbourhood Local Deputy Leo and give him a kiss, and he couldn't even use Duncan as an excuse as to why that bothered him this time.

Veronica finally got to test that transfer to Pam High out a week later when she went looking for the school mascot Polly, it had been an interesting experiment of the Betty vs Veronica variety but truthfully.. she was made for the Private Eye life. It was possibly in her blood, although after that run in with her mother when she had checked her into rehab, Veronica wasn't sure of her paternity. Even her own mother hadn't been sure. Clarence Weidman had bugged her bedroom, so she had been doing routine checks on her bedroom and the Mars Investigations office… how much had they overheard.. did they bug her dad as well? Did they know that Veronica was looking into the Abel Koontz connection?

Her little dalliance with Leo didn't stop the being around Meg and Duncan any easier, but she was glad that after everything she had been through the last few months, that the ice wall between her and Logan had finally come down, it was just little hellos in the hallway but he had helped her change a flat this week and it hadn't happened since. So that was something. Wallace was treating her like his own personal hero most of this week as well since she had recovered Polly and he had discovered that the Spirit box in his locker on game day had been coming from her. His own private cheerleader.

Life was looking on the up. Her little bug in the plant she had Wallace deliver to Kane software had popped out the name Amelia Delompre. Abel Koontz daughter.

That's why a dying man had confessed to a murder he hadn't committed.

A father love for his daughter, was there any stronger force in the universe?

 _Oh wait.. yes. A daughters love for her father._


	15. Chapter 15

She hadn't really spoken to him much in the last few days and Logan was a little disappointed, he was sure she would have come looking for her fee by now, and he had been holding out on giving it to her so she might seek him out on her own, and if he was honest.. maybe he was avoiding her a little bit himself. Duncan had spoken about how awkward it had been last week when he had been out on a date with Meg for her to meet his parents and Veronica had shown up with Deputy Leo.

Shouldn't that be like illegal or something? How old was that guy anyway?

He eventually gave in and decided it was time to just swallow it and go to her dad's office and give her the cheque himself. He could have posted it.. but he wanted and excuse to see the Sexy Sleuth in her natural habitat.

She had been in her fathers office and her laptop was sitting open… curiosity had gotten the better of him. What were all those files and pieces of paper that kept her entranced during their lunch hours? It was sitting right there… and it practically had his name on it… one of them did have his actual name on it.

Lilly Kane murder investigation…. _What was this?_

He flicked through the files with interest… _she had a file on Duncan? Was that part of the rumours actually true? Did she REALLY spy on Duncan Kane?_

 _What did his file say?_

"What is with the Mars family?" he asked incredulously when he got to the part about how it could all be connected, he hadn't had much time to get further than his own and Duncan's casefiles… had he seen Weevil's name in there too?

Veronica gasped and pulled the laptop away from him like he had been reading her diary.

It wasn't like any diary he had ever seen before… not like the one on Duncan's computer.. this was all alibi's and medical historys.

 _Duncan has epilepsy?_

"God Veronica… do you really believe Lillys murder was some kind of … vast conspiracy?" Logan asked as her cheeks flushed. That kind of research didn't happen overnight… it took months….

"I don't know what you saw…." She stammered, retreating behind her desk and hiding the computer under the newspaper.

"A file on Duncan…" he told her jealously. Logan's file had only a few mentions. Relationship, Boyfriend. Alibi, Dick and Beaver. Location. Tijuana. Motive? Unknown.

"There's a file on everyone…" she declared. Perhaps she did have one on everyone. Logan hadn't been able to confirm it, but there were certainly enough tabs.

"Yeah.. it's thorough" he agreed. Well what he had managed to see from Duncan's. She even had a list of the guys vaccination history. "I'm glad my alibi held up" he told her. Man he really owed Dick and Cassidy a beer… and perhaps a condo. Little did she know his awful secret… _would she ever look at him the same way again if she knew how badly he had failed her, Duncan and Lilly that day?_

"Out of the country, two eye witnesses, its airtight" she agreed.

"What do you think Lilly would make of you investigating all the people how loved her?" he asked softly.

"I loved Lilly… maybe if I didn't I'd be able to drop this…" she confessed.

 _No you wouldn't… because you don't quit on people you care about.. you don't give up and you always come through.. its what I love about you…_ he thought and did his best to shake that last part away. He didn't know what he was thinking. He had been a job.. nothing more.

Just stick to the reason you are here Logan… he scolded himself.

"Look I just came to give you this…" he told her, pulling the cheque from his pocket. It was generous but he hoped not so generous as to be insulting.

"Your mother was always nice to me" she smiled sadly and ripped it up. His heart swelled and he was speechless… she had just ripped it up? Perhaps they would have to braid those friendship bracelets after all. He gave her a weak smile and left before he said something else stupid. She was sitting down cradling that laptop and he had a feeling he had really invaded her privacy just now.

He dreamed about the back of her car that night again, of her pulling his shirt off and straddling his hips and her body clenching around him.. but half way through her face changed from Veronica's to Lillys and she threw her head back and giggled. Logan bolted upright in bed _. How could he have been so wrapped up in his fascination with Veronica that he had forgotten about Lilly?_

He had to stop this… it was obvious that Veronica was still struggling to accept that Abel Koontz had killed Lilly.. and she had been there for him with the death of his mother. It was time he returned the favour and tried to be there for her and convince her to let this obsession go. It wasn't good for anyone… but the more he thought about it. Some parts of her files made sense… that night Duncan had collapsed… the one before he had been admitted to hospital… could that have been like a seizure?

Veronica wasn't looking forward to her visit with the Kane's this evening.. being in this place.. she could always feel Lilly calling her name. That night she had left Logan up here, had been the first she had been back since Lillys funeral. This place was the centre of her nightmares.. the place where her best friend and possible sister had been murdered, but she needed that scholarship.

Amelia Delompre was still staying in the Camelott while she tried to convince her to hand over those forge patent documents to prove that the Kane's had paid Abel Koontz off.. but why? Who were they protecting? Jake Kane had been with her mother during the murder… and Celeste Kane had caught them together… so what did that mean?

Her father had confronted her the following day after a visit from the Kanes head of security.

"I'm not scaring the Kane's… my 17 year old daughter is.." he had declared strangely proud.

He had made her promise to be more careful. He had told her that there was a cell phone record from Jake Kane to Clarence Weidman following what would have been the true discovery of Lillys body now that they knew about the speeding ticket, the core body temperature had been off, someone had artificially lowered Lillys temperature to cover up her true time of death… and given the file she had complied on the Kane's Software head of security… ex-army… ex-FBI… she should be worried. A person with these skills was someone Veronica wasn't used to dealing with. By the time she had figured it out enough… Amelia and the fake patent documents were gone.

Veronica grabbed a hold of Logan the following day.. she had to do some damage control before the truth about exactly how far she had been digging into Lillys murder got back to the Kane's via Duncan and Logan's big mouth.

Logan wasn't sure why she had snuck him into the empty classroom… he was so used to daydreaming about finding himself in an empty room alone with her that now it was actually happening he didn't really know what to make of it. She was even wearing one of those little skirts that drove his hormones wild.

"I'd like to know… when you plan on telling everyone I'm psycho… or unhealthily obsessed… I'd like to be prepared" she asked vulnerably, her arms wrapped around herself. He hadn't been planning to… he had been hoping to help her let it go… he was sure it was her love for her father driving this need to prove him right.

"You know somethings been bothering me…" he confessed. That file on Duncan's epilepsy had Logan questioning a lot of things about his friend. "that weird epilepsy of Duncan's are you sure?"

"About that?" she asked puzzled but intrigued. "Yeah…"

"I've known him forever… why didn't he ever mention it to me?" Logan asked. _Was he really such a jackass that Duncan didn't trust him?_

"His parents probably… " Veronica answered simply, stepping closer to him.

He went on to explain the night that he had found Duncan with his hands around his dads throat before he passed out. It had fit with the symptoms she had explained to him. _Her lips were so close…_

"Was this the week Lilly died?" she questioned.

"No… it was the week that you guys broke up… weird huh?" he said, making himself have to walk away. It was eating at him watching that heartbroken little look on her face. He knew Veronica still loved Duncan… probably had never stopped loving Duncan.

He was an idiot for thinking she ever would have been interested… even if he had been able to get over this guilt.

Logan found out from Dick that Veronica and Deputy Leo D'amato had been having dinner together at the Lobster Roll on the Neptune Plaza Pier. He had been on a date with Madison.

"Way to date a few rungs below the food chain… I bet she's only with him because she likes the handcuffs" Dick mused as he handed Logan a beer. These little updates about Veronica's exploits he had used to encourage because he had always been digging for information on how to get back at her. Now? They just helped to fuel his misery. He couldn't take it anymore.. he had to know if Veronica's information about Duncan was true. He would have to talk with him about those files. Find out for sure.

Veronica was in the dog house with Wallace, he was upset that their parents were dating and her teasing had hit a nerve. Plus there was that web address kept popping up everywhere that had her curious. The new journalism teacher was none other than her old pep squad leader… it meant that the newspaper class had gone from Zen to Zesty.. she was definitely something else.

Logan had been sitting closer and closer to her the last few days… he was almost in her lap just now, going out of his way to steal her attention at any given opportunity, giving her little glances and so far.. the sky hadn't fallen. Maybe he wasn't going to tell anyone about those files after all. She was still going to get Mac to encrypt those files as heavily as possible though. You can never be too safe, and she had promised her dad after all…

He was glad when his little quips had been successful at making Veronica laugh.. the sound was like catnip, he just couldn't stop himself from wanting to be around it. He was disappointed when the seat he had spent all lesson trying to steal from Zac Alderian beside Veronica was taken away from him by the sound of another fire drill.

"Okay students… single file.." the new teacher instructed.

"Heads up, Chest Out… Big Smiles!" Logan joked and was rewarded by a laugh from Duncan and Veronica… wow.. he must really be on point today.

It wasn't until much later that day that he discovered Veronica had uncovered that the school had been sweeping the place for bombs… how did she find out this stuff? If she was right about that…and she had been according to the school's administration office when the PTA had called for an official statement. Then maybe he should drive over to the Kane's and ask Duncan point blank about that file on her computer.

Duncan had been furious, at first he wanted to know how Logan had found out, he had accused him of rifling through his bag.. then he had mentioned the file on Veronica's computer and he had gotten really quiet, he told Logan to leave and hadn't spoken much to him this morning.

Was he the one betraying his newly rekindled friendship with Veronica this time? He had just ratted her out… he was such a hypocrite.

Veronica had been worried about the website with the countdown.. there were rumours circulating that the new student Ben who had just transferred in had been seen playing with explosives and killing cats with Norris. She was worried, they did look like bomb threat material, she had asked Wallace to get the file and he had confessed that she was his best friend… even if he could end up her brother at this rate.

Duncan had seemed withdrawn today while she had been sitting with Meg, the only time he had seemed interested, was when she had been explaining to Meg the best way to flee the country undetected and not get caught… she had thought it had just been her, until Meg confessed that it had been happening all day.

Her gut told her that weirdness had a first and last name of Logan Echolls.

He must have told Duncan. _Oh Crap._

"That was either a really poor warm welcome or an excellent cold shoulder" she declared carefully when she approached him in the journalism office.

"Logan told me about your investigation into Lillys murder" Duncan informed her coldly.

No.. no… no…

"That's true.." she confessed.

"That you have files of everyone in your computer… a file on me?" he demanded.

"There's a file on everyone connected to Lilly" she admitted. She had been afraid of this… why couldn't Logan just have kept his big mouth shut?

"What does mine say?" he asked angrily.

"That you have type 4 epilepsy.. that you are taking medication" she told him as he turned to look at her.

"How do you know that?" he asked eerily calmly.

"I just do…" Veronica dismissed. _What did it matter?_ She imagined he was feeling like she had violated him in some horrible way… and its true… she had. She knew what she had been doing when she started this investigation… the lines she had to be willing to cross… she owed it to Lilly… even if it meant hurting Duncan.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he demanded turning to leave.

 _He had to understand… he had to listen… if he knew… then he should know everything…_

"I'm Lillys best friend" she snarled.

"Lillys dead.. her killer is in jail" he told her coldly.

"Abel Koontz didn't kill Lilly.. he was paid to confess" she corrected.

"Who would pay?" he scoffed before turning to leave… "We would… you think someone in my family killed Lilly… that we paid to cover it up.." he said incredulously. "Why? To protect… say me?"

"Do you even remember that day?" she asked him carefully. She knew he didn't.. that bug in the guidance counsellors office had confirmed it, he had a 3 day hole in his memory starting the morning of his soccer practise that day and ending with the wake at the Kane house during Lillys funeral. All that time in between? Just gone.

"You think _I_ killed Lilly?" he gasped. "How.. could you think that… even for a second?" he snarled.

"Duncan… calm down…" she told him as he stormed back into the room towards her.

"Why you think I'm going to have another episode and Kill you too?" he snapped before something shook loose in his head and he was himself again, realising he'd just been threatening her he turned on his heel and fled from the room.

So much for Life being on the Up.


	16. Chapter 16

Veronica decided to turn her niggling guilt into fuel and put a little good out in the world… good like stopping the mass murder of her classmates by some bomb building psychotic lunatic? She had been trailing Ben around most of Neptune from the Camelott Motel all the way to the home depot and he was wheeling fertilizer bags from the store… at least that what it looked like as she snapped pictures of it, she was still a little too far away to tell.

The encounter with Duncan had really rattled her. She never would have thought he would be capable of killing Lilly.. but now she wasn't so sure. She wanted to know how he was doing but Meg hadn't seen him when she called to check up on him and he hadn't replied to her text asking him to call her.

 _Why would a teenager at her high school be staying in the Camelott if not to be doing something that he wanted to not have witnesses for.. like say… building a bomb to kill his new classmates?_

She thought as she reviewed the pictures on her camera and sat stake out in the parking lot opposite where Ben was loading his boot. Her phone rang… speak of the Devil himself.

"Yeah?" she sighed.

"Hey its Logan.." he said shyly.

 _He was just hoping she would still speak to him after he confessed.._

"It's just a heads up for you.. Duncan knows about your files" he told her.

"He knows because you told him…" she accused him.

 _Shit… he had been too late…_

"Well.. yeah.. what was I supposed to do… he's my best friend?" he asked.

 _Like you were Lilly's best friend when you told her I kissed Yolanda… fuck he really had been a jackass…._

"Yeah well.. he took my head off… you would have loved it" she sighed.

 _Is that really what she thought of him now?_

"Have you talked to him since school let out?" she asked before it sounded like the phone dropped. "Oh my god… what do you think you are doing?" she cried out in surprise.

Logan frowned and tried to listen closer.

"Let's go for a little ride…" a man's voice threatened. _Fuck… where was she? Her car wasn't on campus… he knew that.. he had went looking for her to apologize and warn her in person…_

Veronica was frightened, Ben was sitting right there in her car… and he had a gun in the holster he had been wearing under his jacket. She fought back the urge to cry.

 _I had promised dad I would be careful…._ she thought. _Please get help Logan…_

He forced her to drive the car out of the parking lot and began to start rambling about how she was screwing everything up.. and how he would have to take her someplace so he could think.

"Where are we going?" she asked loudly. _Smart girl Veronica…_ Logan said as he ran to his car, the phone still pressed to his ear…. _Where are you?_

"You already know, I'm pretty sure you followed me from there.. you are a pesky one" Ben complained.

"The Camelott?" she said loudly.

 _Hang on Ronnie… I'm coming…._ Logan promised as he set the phone onto Loudspeaker on his dashboard and drove out of the car park, taking the short cut he knew along the beach. He wouldn't let anything happen to her… he wasn't losing another girl he loved like that.. not again.. not if there was a chance he could stop it.

"You don't have to do this… " Veronica pleaded, her hand were beginning to shake.

 _Was this really it? Was this how it ended? Her body stuffed into an ice machine in some seedy motel for hookers and assholes who cheated on their wives? She hadn't told her dad anything about this… the Sheriffs Department would be too incompetent to assume it had been anything more than a Private Eye job for her father gone wrong and her dad would be too broken to connect the dots. She would just be another unsolved murder case in Neptune… just like Lilly and Duncan would spend the rest of his life thinking she thought he was a killer._

"Shut up a minute… I need to think…" Ben told her.

Logan felt sick as he listened to her frightened voice over the phone… this couldn't be the last time he heard it…. He stepped on the gas and ran through a red light.

"My dad's a Private detective… he will come looking for me" Veronica warned Ben as he hauled her from the car and started dragging her up the stairs. This time of the day, the car park was empty and anyone who was here, wasn't the kind to get involved in the affairs of other people.

"I'm going to show you something…" Ben told her, reaching into his back pocket.. for what a knife? The Key to the room she would be raped and murdered?

"Starbucks then… someplace public.. come on.. espresso anyone my treat?" she begged.

"There's a lot going on here that you don't understand" Ben told her before Veronica yelped in surprise as Logan Echolls sprang from nowhere and punched Ben in the face, beating him to the ground.

Logan? She thought in surprise before she became fully present again and noticed the badge holder on the floor…is that what Ben had in his Hand?

"Logan stop!" she told him quickly.

"huh?" Logan asked in surprise… hadn't she just been pleading for her life?

"He's a federal agent" she explained as she showed him the badge. She helped Agent Antony "Ben" Perez to his feet and they went inside his hotel room to help clean him up. Logan's adrenaline was still pumping and he paced the room between Veronica in the bathroom and Ben who was sitting on the edge of the bed.

He stood protectively beside the door glaring at Ben, his fist was still itching to beat into the guys face for scaring her like that.

"You are undercover at Neptune High?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah…" Ben said taking the wet wash cloth she handed him. He looked at Logan nervously _.. Good…_

"Is it okay if he goes outside? I'd like to talk to you alone" Ben asked.

 _Hell no!_

"Dream on Jump street.. I am not leaving you alone with her…" Logan threatened. _Veronica would be lucky if he ever let her out of his sight ever again after this little adventure this afternoon._

"He's the real deal…" Veronica reasoned. "I'll just give him a minute" she promised.

"Fine.. but don't close the door all the way… and I will be right out here.." he told her as he stood by the door. _Those few minutes pacing by that door waiting for her were some of the longest of his life_.

"Are you okay?" he asked as she stepped shakily out of the room.

"Hmm hmmm" she nodded, coming over to stand in front of him. _Finally he could breathe…_

Veronica wasn't sure what compelled her to… there was just something in the way he was looking at her made her step forwards and give him a shy grateful kiss for coming to her rescue. _He had put his life on the line to save her… he hadn't even know what he was getting himself into.._ Realizing what she had just done she shook her head a little embarrassed and turned to walk back to her car.

Logan felt like someone had just woke him up… he had been thinking about those lips for longer than he wanted admit to himself.. and she had just kissed him… it was like someone had just flicked a switch in his head… like all the lights had just come on and now he knew why he had been incapable of leaving her alone.. Despite all his little daydreams and fantasies… he loved her…

She shook her head, a little embarrassed and turned to walk away from him, he couldn't stop himself, he reached his throbbing hand out to grab her wrist and spun her to face him, her blond hair twirling around as his mouth crashed into hers and he pulled her against his body kissing her passionately. She kissed him back, her hands reaching up to caress the back of his neck and pull him closer to her. He wanted to spin them against the wall and explore her hungrily, he felt like he was starving, his hands went to her hips.. this was better than his dreams. It felt like the cosmos had just zapped him and his centre of gravity had refocused onto the petite blond woman in his arms. He tasted her for several minutes until she pulled back to regain her breath, blue eyes looking at him in confusion… she didn't understand what was happening. Embarrassed he realised his hands were still on her hips so he let go of her for a moment and watched as she turned and fled down the steps towards her car.

 _What was she doing? Logan Echolls?_

He couldn't take his eyes off her as she walked to her car and glanced back up at him in wonder, like she was sort of seeing him clearly for the first time. It was then that Logan knew the truth.

He was now irreversibly in love with Veronica Mars.


	17. Chapter 17

Logan woke to the sound of the radio on his alarm clock and the words mocked him. Paracute – Kiss Me Slowly playing as he sat up in his bed, running his hand through his hair. _How was he going to get through today?_

He was in love with his dead girlfriends best friend… the girl who also happened to be his own best friends ex-girlfriend… and after he had kissed her yesterday night.. there was no way he was going to be able to ignore it. His heart had been broken for so long… yesterday had finally felt like it had been all leading him somewhere.

Did it really matter that Duncan started dating Meg Manning? Logan knew how much DK had pined for Veronica even now… whenever he got drunk he always brought her up. This could ruin their friendship, but should he be worrying about that kiss after all? She had run from him afterwards and he had gone to Lilly's grave to confess. She had felt like heaven in his arms and the guilt was tearing him apart.

He had thought that his infatuation with her had been because he had convinced himself he hated her so much before… or that the dreams and fantasies he had were his own way of punishing himself for what had happened to Lilly by making him obsess about her best friend. There was no denying that he had always thought she was hot… for a while he had even thought it was just because she was attractive and he was a hot blooded teenage guy with a fascination for things that always seemed out of his reach… a spoiled rich boys desire to have what he couldn't have, and at Neptune High.. nothing was as inaccessible as Veronica Mars.

How would he ever be able to look at her the same way again?

His body was on fire for her, her soft lips against his, her slim waist in his hands… God's he hated himself. She needed him to be her friend after the fall out he had created between her and Duncan and all he could think about was how much he wanted to be with her instead?

 _She was dating that Deputy…_ he thought miserably. _And she is probably still in love with Duncan… and he wanted to go and find her and wrap her up in his arms…_

The sex fantasies.. he could have lived with.. the dreams he had gotten used to… the guilt over Lilly and his attraction to her friend was something he had learned to accept. The knowledge however that the reason he was as drawn to her was because he was in love with her? That was inescapable. He hadn't heard from Duncan today… in fact no one had heard from Duncan today, and after his confrontation with him, he figured it was best to give him time alone if he needed it. He hadn't seen Veronica today yet, he felt on edge. His fight or flight response was in high gear. Part of him wished he was as big a jackass as people thought he was, then he could think to hell with all the complications and just put himself out there. It was not that easy however.

She was dating someone.

His best friend wanted her back, even though he wouldn't admit it.

She was Lilly's best friend. It would always come between them.

She loved his best friend, even though she wouldn't admit it.

She probably hated him and didn't even feel the same way?

It was betraying Lilly..

Logan looked at the list he had scribbled into the back of his notebook as Mr Daniels continued their examination of the appeal of the relationship dynamics between three of character caught in a sordid affair. It was an early version of Tristan and Isolde. Torn between duty to their long standing relationships and loyalties.. and their hearts desires.

That ATF agent had arrested one of his classmates this morning for being suspected of trying to build a bomb… that's probably what Veronica was working on. She would surface eventually… and maybe then he might have some idea of what he was going to do? It wasn't until after school he heard the first rumour that Duncan Kane had actually gone missing. Meg had been distraught when he had called over to the Kane's house to try and help narrow down the search.

"I don't understand… what would make him do that?" Meg had cried.

This was all his fault.. if he hadn't said anything about those files…

What would Lilly think of him now and all the chaos he had created? He hadn't shown at the newspaper office last night… he needed to think and helping Jake drive around their usual spots had been a good distraction.

The Navigator the following morning was full of the run down how Norris had been set up by the ATF agent who was posing as a high school student. Evidence and photos by Veronica Mars. He had been reading over her article just as she came into the room as soon as their eyes connected Logan knew for certain… _Nope. He would not be able to leave this alone._

She averted her eyes shyly and stood against the desk near Zac and Claire while their teacher gathered them for an announcement. Logan sat down but couldn't tear his eyes away from her. He didn't look away from her until she snuck a glance back at him. Her expression was unreadable. The turmoil he was feeling was only made worse by Duncan Kane's sudden disappearance and the guilt he knew she would be feeling for it. He kept his distance as much as he was able but Logan continued his sullen little Veronica Watch for the better part of the next week as she t went on a few more dates with Deputy Leo.. it was when he heard she had spent the evening with Weevil Navarro as well that he used the excuse of getting her take on the unofficial search for Duncan Kane continued under the official line of he was visiting a sick relative to talk to her. It's was the first time they had interacted directly after their little adventure at the Camelott.

"Hey" she said in surprise as Veronica turned from closing her locker.

A locker ambush was a classic tactic of his… they never saw you coming.. and they usually had to get something before they could leave.

"Hey" he replied, _Damn she looked adorable today._

 _Off-limits Logan…_ he reminded himself.

"So… what do you think?" he asked smiling. _Was he making her nervous?_

"Like in general… or is there a specific area on which you want my opinion?" she asked shyly.

 _Okay Mars… sure… make me work for it…._

"Do you think Duncan is like hold up in a hotel someplace, bleaching his hair and filing his fingerprints off?" Logan asked as he fell into step beside her.

"Honestly.. I have no idea" she answered awkwardly her blue eyes staring at him widely and turned to walk away from him.

"I got the call from Celeste last night.. wanting to know if I knew where he might have gone.." he continued as he followed her. He had a few minutes until the bell.. he could steal a few more moments.

"What did you tell them?" she asked… seems like talking about Duncan was also the best way to get Veronica's attention.

"The truth… that I don't know" he admitted and then he heard that tell-tale click before the bell went.

 _There you go Mars… Saved by the Bell._

"See ya" He smiled at her again.. _who knew being around her could make him so damn giddy?_

 _If she wouldn't mention it first… he wouldn't mention it at all. Let her mull it over.. he knew the way that beautiful mind worked… this would drive her crazy._

He turned and walked away, he was still in a good mood right up until he got home. He had noticed her lingering on him in the hallways.. did she know she blushed like that? Not obviously in her cheeks like most girls but more around her collarbone and just the tips of her ears? That was until Trina told him about Weevil Navarro being caught in Lillys bedroom last night. Old wounds had ripped right open. He had been in her bedroom… he knew which was her bedroom to begin with.. she had been dating Weevil? That tattoo.. it had been serious.

Kaitlin had cheated on him with Weevil's cousin Charlo and now Lilly had been with Weevil?

 _Had she loved him? Had she even loved Logan?_

The thought had dulled his happiness at finding out his mother had left him practically everything and cut his father out of her will entirely. It hadn't taken long before Trina had come begging for a loan. He hadn't given in, she would be like this with him for years if he gave in now.

Veronica had gone to Visit Weevil… she must have. They were friends. Maybe he could ask her about Weevil? He hadn't really found the time to bring it up with her yet. She had been helping some girl find her dog today at school, must have been a slow week. Can't catch corrupt government agents and would be bombers all the time he supposed. Her relationship status still continued to elude him.. she hadn't been out with that Deputy in about a week now… but she still hadn't mentioned that kiss.. there was no way she hadn't felt how magnetic and electrifying that had been surely?

He had spent much of his computer class day dreaming about pressing her up against her locker and kissing every inch of her… _his hands sliding up her shirt… sliding up that skirt of hers… wrapping those legs around his waist…_

If he had thought those kinds of thoughts were bad before.. they were on a constant loop now. If Lilly had been with Weevil.. then he had nothing to feel guilty for he mused to himself as he watched Trina wander into the kitchen.

It wasn't until he stopped teasing her that he realised she was wearing dark glasses and limping a little.

"Hey what's wrong?" Logan demanded.

"Nothing" she spat so he pulled the glasses off her face.

"What happened?" he asked again more insistent this time as he saw the bruises on her face.

"Don't you have some homework to do little brother?" she snapped and tried to pull them off him again.

"Did your wannabe producer boyfriend do this to you?" he asked again.

"What do you care?" she complained, finally yanking the glasses back.

"What is his name.. Dillion was it?" Logan said. Normally he tried his best to ignore Trina, but now she had his full attention. Whoever did this would pay for it.

"Oh now you want to know.. don't be so wishy washy Logan… it's so unattractive in a guy" she complained and limped back to her room.

Logan grabbed the script from Trina's side of the couch and headed for his car. Veronica could help him figure out who this asshole was.

"Hey" she greeted him as she sat at her desk in the Mars Investigations Office _. Sexy Sleuth and her very sturdy… very generously spaced desk in her very private office…_

"I need your help" Logan told her.

 _And possibly to stop thinking about you writhing beneath me on this desk…_

"I'm going to start my own drinking game.. someone asks for my help.. I take a shot.. or would that be weird?" she joked.

"I need to find Trina's new boyfriend" Logan told her.

"Did he break up with her?" Veronica asked, confused.

"He beat her up… I plan to return the favour.. all I know is that he's producing this steaming pile of garbage" he said tossing the script on her desk.

"Done.. that should be easy" she said. Logan approached the desk and stood behind her as she worked her magic on her laptop. _She could type really fast… quick hands. Talented.. smooth soft hands.._ The smell of her perfume and the heat of her beside him was very distracting.

It hadn't taken long to find out that the asshole who had beaten his sister but when he called his dad to warn him about the asshole, his father had hung up before hearing him out.

"Dillion is coming to dinner… and my dad is cooking for him" Logan said through gritted teeth.

"Then let's go show him what we found" Veronica declared as she grabbed her bag.

Logan had never seen someone on the other end of one of his fathers beatings himself personally, he was usually the one receiving it, and it was brutal, and he knew how that belt felt when it collided with Dillion Goran, Trina's leach of an abusive boyfriends ribcage, but he couldn't think of someone who deserved it more. Okay… maybe tonight he had been wrong about his dad. Unleash that monster on someone who had actually earned it this time.

"Logan… see this young man to his car" Aaron Echolls had told him.

"With pleasure" Logan had replied _. It was probably the only time in his life that he and his father were on the same team_ he thought as Veronica stood beside him and the car pulled away in a hurry.

"Father knows best?" Logan mused and it was back to that silent pause between them filled with anticipation. The began to walk back towards his car so he could take her home… _He'd rather take her to his room…_

"Hey.. do you think Lilly loved Weevil?" he asked quietly.

"I was wondering when you were going to ask me about that" she replied gently.

"Well when the guy is caught in her bedroom.. you have to wonder" he joked.

"Lilly never mentioned anything to me about Weevil" she admitted, her blue eyes full of sympathy. "I know Lilly loved you…" she assured him.

"Just not like I loved her…" he added. _Like I love you…_

"Hey it's okay… in a way it kinda lets me off the hook.. at least now I don't have to feel so guilty anymore" he told her, and it was true. This new revelation had set him free.

"Feel guilty about what?" she asked carefully, her blue eyes were wide-eyed and hopeful. Her lips parted slightly..

"About moving on…" he whispered as he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. Their lips met eagerly and she stepped closer into his embrace, moaning softly… she felt something for him too and the knowledge made him feel like he was going to float away with contentment.

"We need to talk about this…" she sighed and he smiled.. he knew needing to discuss this had been driving her crazy..

"I know" he agreed and laughed as he kissed her again.

"What are we doing?" she smiled back as she pulled her lips away again.

"No idea…" he admitted. _Just please don't stop…_ he thought as he pressed her mouth to his again and she moaned happily.

"Maybe we should just keep it to ourselves for a while? See what happens?" she suggested. He would take whatever scenario she had in mind.

 _If he got to keep kissing her… he would use whatever opportunity she gave him to make him feel even a quarter of whatever this intense need for her was._

"Meet in Mop Closets? Pass Each Other Secret Notes in the Hallways?" he teased. "Come on… I'll drive you home on the backstreets" he flirted as he opened the car door and watched her climb inside.


	18. Chapter 18

"I am a trainwreck" Veronica Mars told herself as she stood looking at herself in the mirror of her small two bedroom apartment that she shared with her Private Investigator father Keith Mars.

Norris who was really actually pretty sweet, but was under investigation for being a crazy bomb-maker had just asked her out this weekend, as like a "friends thing". Deputy Leo D'amato had texted her about going out again this evening but she had made excuses not to and was hesitating because… she just kissed Logan Fricking Echolls last night?

Her ex-boyfriend Duncan Kane's best friend and the boyfriend of her dead best friend Lilly Kane?

 _Hottest kiss of my life… Logan Fricking Echolls?_

She still couldn't stop feeling the tingle in her lips.

 _Since when did I want Logan Echolls mouth on mine so much? And since when am I disappointed that he didn't chase me down those stairs and kiss me again?_

Duncan was mad at her… and all she could think about was how much she was craving those lips on hers again? Lilly had told her that Logan was a good kisser but DAMN… fireworks, explosions… it felt like someone had just slapped the cosmos through her entire body…

She felt her cheeks growing red at the memory.. a kiss had never left her so.. so.. turned on? She had retreated to her bedroom with Backup because her dad was a skilled interrogator.. he would know something was up.

Besides… she had a mystery to solve.. okay another mystery to solve… the reason why she kept staring at her picture wall and that homecoming dance collage of the four of them at Logan instead of Duncan could go to the back of her mind for a little while… Lilly's smiling face looked at her knowingly.

"Okay Veronica.. your turn" her voice giggled.

Sure, things were better with her and Logan now after he had lost his mother… but this truce? between them was still so new. _Had he been flirting with her the last few days and she just hadn't noticed?_

Leo was cute, and hot and he treated her really well… her dad liked him… between the revelations that her father was dating Alicia, her best friend's mother and this kiss and Duncan's argument with her earlier she had accused him of killing Lilly.. what was wrong with her?

Her world had gotten all kinds of complicated.

It's not like Logan hadn't just put himself in danger to save her life if Ben hadn't turned out to be an undercover ATF agent. Ben had been armed.. she had never been as scared as when she had been dragged to that hotel room, and he had come to her rescue.

Maybe that's why she had been so into that kiss? She was still alive and the adrenaline and the relief had made everything so much more intense? _Or she really had just wanted him to put those strong hands on her body and wrap those arms around her…_

She couldn't even do a puff piece for the navigator on fire drills without getting pulled into a federal investigation on a potential mass murder plot trying to blow up Neptune High. Something about that "Ben" guy didn't feel right though. It didn't add up. She had gotten Ms Stafford in trouble with Mr Clemmons today after that article but there was just these alarm bells going off in her head about all that computer evidence against Sweet I-wanna-tour-Japan Norris, it didn't add up. He wasn't anywhere near tech savvy enough to have re-routed his internet traffic like that let alone build a website. Veronica was pretty good with computers but that level of web design would have taken someone like Mac to pull off. His dad was the computer genius in the family.. Norris' passion was ancient weapons and martial arts, he had even won some high level competitions, the pictures and trophies in his room had proven it. That kind of training took up a lot of time, she knew that from the summer her father had sent her to women's self-defence classes last summer to pick up some basics if she was going to be working alone, and after Shelley's party.. she had been glad of the outlet, but between school and the Private Investigations stuff, she hadn't had time to keep up with the schedule.

This level of expertise, took time, dedication.. like say… someone as into computer nerdom like her Ubuntu loving exploding tennis balls source? Pete Kiminski was Norris' neighbour. Agent Ben had denied being in any vacant parking lot throwing exploding anything at stray cats.

He had lied, he knew how to set Norris up like that, how to direct that search history through his open wi-fi connection enough to attract the attention of young ambitious agents like Ben. She had to warn Norris but he hadn't answered the phone.

It wasn't until the following morning that Veronica saw that ATF Agent Ben had planted false evidence in Norris' car. Little did he know that Veronica had followed him long enough to get pictures… she had told him her father was a private investigator, he should have known that she wasn't your average teenage girl and as she typed up her story to show Ms Stafford, she was going to prove just how Pesky she could be.

Logan hadn't shown up for the Navigator deadline and she was confused by how disappointed that made her, she hadn't really seen him since yesterday. Maybe that was a good thing she needed to focus on getting an innocent man cleared… Norris would not go down for this, not on her watch.

Ms Stafford had agreed that the story was too big to ignore, especially if it meant that an innocent student was going to suffer for it, the Navigator was going to run the story. Apparently Pete was getting back at Norris because of his years of bullying him, but that was no excuse, not really. Veronica knew what it was like to be the victim of a relentless reign of torture, but she wouldn't exactly resort to ruining someone's entire future and taking away their liberty for pay back. Not unless they truly had deserved it, and the Norris she had met yesterday, had been reformed. He had turned a new leaf and there had been nothing in his permanent file that said that kind of behaviour had continued any further than junior high.

She had been so caught up in her article she hadn't noticed when Meg Manning, Duncan's new girlfriend entered the room.

"Veronica?" she asked quietly and motioned for her to come into the hallway.

"Hey.. what's going on?" Veronica asked, concerned, Meg had been crying.

"You haven't seen Duncan tonight have you?" she asked.

"No.. he didn't show up tonight" Veronica replied… actually… now she thought about it. She hadn't seen Duncan today at all.. not since yesterday. "Which is weird" Duncan was the Navigator Editor.

"His parents said he withdrew $10,000 in cash yesterday afternoon… they think he might have run away.. do you have any idea why he would have done something like that?" Meg asked. "No one has seen him since"

 _Oh I could think of a reason… like being accused of murdering your own sister by the ex-girlfriend whose secretly been investigating you and your family?_ Veronica thought guiltily.

The article went out the following morning and Mr Clemmons was not pleased but the article, those pictures of the fertilizer and her research had been enough to force them to release Norris. He probably wouldn't want to be going to that film festival now that he knew she had only called over to investigate the bomb threats, but at least he would be free this weekend.

Wallace had come around again, the weirdness about their parents dating was still, well weird, but hey, this was the Life of Veronica Mars in Neptune. Nothing was simple. She thrived in the chaos.

Chaos… like the way the butterflies in her stomach turned into an entire zoo when Logan Echolls looked at her as she entered the Journalism office, or the way every part of her body suddenly flared to life under the weight of his stare? She hadn't seen him and now there he was.

She slipped into the room and stood beside Zac and Claire, forgoing her usual seat as he sat down and kept his smouldering gaze on her. Since when did she think Logan Echolls had a smouldering gaze?

 _Since you accused your ex-boyfriend of murdering his sister and he fled the country and you made out with his dead sisters boyfriend?_

Veronica tried her best not to look at him but she couldn't help sneaking glances until Ms Stafford came into the classroom.

"I am sorry to announce this is my last day teaching here at Neptune High… please work independently until your substitute arrives" she smiled sadly.

 _No good deed goes unpunished… everything comes at a cost.._ Veronica thought guiltily.

A great teacher had just lost her job because of her love for one of her students. Love was always a liability…

She took the empty computer beside Claire and tried her best to focus on the picture collage she had been asked to put together of the bake sale last week, but she could still feel Logan's eyes on her.

Her dreams that night had involved the back of her car with Logan pulling her against him as he kissed her.. those hands cupping her breasts.. his other hand sliding along her thigh under her dress and touching her intimately until she woke up panting and sighing his name… her body ached and burned. _What was happening to her?_

Tutoring Weevil had been a welcome distraction to stop her replaying those intense dreams over and over in her head the last few days, Logan still hadn't spoken to her about it. It was starting to drive her a little insane… _maybe it meant nothing?_

Watching him surfing on the beach when she had been walking Backup only added fuel to the fire inside her… _damn he looked good with no shirt on.. and god his body could move…_

Tutoring the local biker gang leader had certainly made a good excuse for why she hadn't gone on another date with Leo since the movie night they shared since Ms Stafford had lost her job but her father had been less than thrilled. Weevil cute, there was no denying that but her dad didn't have to worry, she had a thing for Bad Boys… but Eli Navarro was a little too wild for even her.

"Do I have to recap my concerned dad lectures? No running with scissors, no candy from strangers.. no smartening up the criminal element?" Keith Mars had scolded.

"He helped me out in the past.. I am just returning the favour" she had assured him.

The dreams about Logan that night had been the most intense yet and she woke still a little embarrassed as she replayed the highlights as she got things out of her locker the following morning and there he was. Locker Ambush.

"Hey.." she said shyly. _Please God tell me he couldn't just tell what I was thinking…._

"Hey" he smiled happily.

 _He's so tall… has he always been this tall?_

"So what do you think?" he asked cryptically.

 _You… naked? Kiss me again? Yes?_

"Uh… Like in general…. Or is there a specific area on which you want my opinion?" Veronica asked nervously.

"Do you think Duncan is just like cooling off.. or is he hold up in a hotel someplace bleaching his hair and filing his fingerprints off?" Logan asked as he stepped beside her.

He was so close to her she could feel the warmth of his body and smell the ocean from his skin after his surf this morning… _Oh God I'm going to blush…_

"Uh.. honestly… I have no idea…" she replied awkwardly walking away from him. _She had to get out of here…._

"I got the call from Celeste last night wanting to know where I thought he might have gone" he continued as he followed her.

 _Well good luck finding him since I pretty much gave him the highlights a few days ago on how to avoid being found. Stupid Stupid Veronica._

 _If you are going to insist on using that mouth Logan… kiss me…._ Veronica scolded herself as the thought came out of nowhere. _Focus Mars… Duncan is Missing.. and its your fault!_

"What did you tell her?" Veronica asked, forcing herself to stop and look at him.

"The truth… that I don't know" he admitted and continued to look at her with those liquid chocolate eyes.. had they always been that enticing? He flashed her a smile and pointed at the alarm on the wall just as the bell rang.

"See ya" he smiled and put his hands on his pockets and walked away.

 _Was he really not going to mention their little two minutes of heaven at all?_

 _Okay Logan… you want to pretend it never happened? No argument here… I just wish I hadn't noticed how nice your ass looks in those jeans._

She was a strange mix of frustrated over thoughts of Logan and worried over Duncan's disappearance. Do innocent men run away like that? She didn't want to think it could have been him but those phony patent documents that Amelia ran away with, proved that the Kane's had paid Abel Koontz to confess.

At least she had reluctantly suspected Duncan until Wallace got her the 411 before the little birdy and told her that Weevil had just been caught breaking into Lilly Kane's bedroom last night. Hours after he had left the Mars Investigations Office… only hours after he had made her admit to thinking that Abel Koontz wasn't really Lilly's killer.

If innocent men didn't run.. did innocent men break into their dead ex-girlfriends bedrooms after they heard a rumour that someone was still looking for the real killer?

Facing an expectant amorous Deputy Leo at the Sheriffs Office had been awkward, but she had to get in to visit Weevil, to find out why he had been there.

"Do you have that Nail File and the J-low poster I asked for?" he joked sarcastically as Weevil lay in his cell.

"You broke into Lilly's bedroom… why?" Veronica demanded.

"What better house for some breaking and entering?" he said evasively.

"I know about you and Lilly" Veronica informed him calmly.

"You think you know.. but there's more to it than that" he said getting up from the bed to sit opposite her.

"I tell you I am getting close to finding her killer and two hours later you are breaking into her bedroom? What am I supposed to think?" Veronica demanded.

"Look I told you what I was doing there… are you going to help me or not?" he complained.

Veronica looked at him coldly, she had always respected Weevil, she had gotten him out of a lot of trouble before in the past, but this? Lilly's murder investigation had been her entire life for the last year, she had crossed lines and invaded the privacy of the love of her life Duncan for this investigation… she wouldn't take no for an answer this time. Innocent men don't break into their dead ex-girlfriends bedrooms for no reason.

"No.. I won't" she told him and turned to leave.

"Alright… alright… hold on… I was looking for a diamond ring.. it was my mothers. At one point I thought I wanted Lilly to have it… it's an engagement ring. I was trying to steal it back" Weevil pleaded.

"A ring?" she sighed. She knew from Leo that there was no ring found on him when he had been arrested, just 17cents, a few condoms and a pen. "Did you find it?"

"No.." he admitted. "Look I need your help, the Kane's want me crucified for this and now that I am 18… its no juvvie for me"

"Hello community soap" she replied sympathetically. She would do what she could, but she wasn't exactly sure how to get the charges dropped, Celeste Kane hated her and Duncan was nowhere to be found.

Helping Mandy to find the missing Chester had been yet another welcome distraction but the posters and the county animal shelter hadn't produced much results, and when that asshole at pranked Mandy the next day, Veronica lost it.

"If you ever use Mandy again to try to prove to yourself that you are NOT a loser, I will ruin your life" she had promised.

She could sympathize with Mandy when the pound had called to tell her that Chester had been found dead at the side of the road, there were few things in this world that Veronica loved more than her territorial pit-bull Backup and as she walked him around the park and saw all the notices for missing pets, she realised that there was more to this missing dog case than met the eye.

Her visit from Celeste Kane had been unexpected.

"What did you say to Duncan?" she demanded as Veronica was looking for the stapler in her dads office and Celeste stood in the doorway staring at her in that usual holier than thou fashion. "You are probably the reason he left… what did you say to him Veronica?"

"What about what I didn't say? I didn't tell him that his mother threatened to kill me… that she drove my mother out of town… " Veronica replied much to the shock on Celeste Kane's face.

 _Gotchya… didn't think I knew about you having Clarence Weidman spying on me?_

"I know you think I hate you.. but I don't… I just cant stand to look at you and be reminded of everything that's wrong in my life… that affair between your mother and my husband? I see that infidelity.. I see that hotel room.. I see your father trying to destroy us!" she declared vehemently.

It was then that Keith Mars arrived and entered the office behind Celeste, Veronica had no idea how much he had heard. She didn't know how much her father knew about the question of her paternity, and she honestly hoped that he would never have to find out.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded and walked around to stand beside his daughter.

"I had to ask your daughter a few questions" Celeste told him firmly.

"You don't have to ask her anything.. you should just leave her alone" Keith warned.

"If you had been such a great detective.. you would have seen what was going on right under your nose" Celeste taunted bitterly before turning on her expensive heels and left the room.

Keith answered an incoming phone call and it was just then that Veronica had an idea on how to help Weevil.

"Wait.. drop the charges against Eli Navarro… and I'll help you look for Duncan" she declared as Celeste was getting her bag from the coat rail.

"You want the intruder in Lilly's bedroom released?" Celeste asked sarcastically.

"Nothing was damaged.. nothing was stolen. I might have an idea of where Duncan went.. that is my offer" Veronica negotiated. Celeste said nothing but Veronica could tell that there was a kind of parental desperation there to find her missing child. She loved Duncan, he was her entire world, this would work.

She still hadn't seen much of Logan, but the guilt that had been churning up about that kiss and Duncan being missing, that was maybe for the best.

If only the butterflies in her stomach when she caught him looking at her like that would agree with her and stop their little dance every time he was near her.

The dog-kidnapping case was much bigger than she thought, it was practically an underground business, and the sting operation she had devised with her potential new step-brother Wallace had led her straight back to Hans, the boy from her school who worked at the County Animal Shelter.

"You are out" Veronica smiled in surprise as she saw a familiar leather wearing tattooed PCHer grinning at her in gratitude.

"Yeah.. how many get out of jail cards do you have up your sleeve anyway?" Weevil flirted.

"Not enough, I think this is my last one" she replied. "You might want to keep your felonies to a minimum" she suggested.

"I am what I am V" he replied and moved on.

If only she had a card to reform that particular bad boy, her life could be a whole lot simpler, she went back to her desk and was working on gathering up the most recent missing pet cases and making calls to track down the ones who were still missing, she would need to know when she went to ask Leo for help later.

 _Those dog stealing bastards were going down.. you don't get between a girl and her best friend._

"Hey… I need your help" Logan declared as he came bursting into the Mars Office.

 _With your pants?_ Veronica thought before she realised this was the actual Logan Echolls standing in front of her and not the one she had been daydreaming about bringing her chocolate ice-cream and kissing the hell out of her on the couch in the office.

"Would it be weird for me to start my own drinking game? Like I have to a shot every time someone asks for my help?" she said nervously. _Damn her throat was suddenly very very dry…_

Logan went on to explain that Trina's new boyfriend had beaten her up and that he was on a mission to return the favour. Finding Dillion Goran hadn't taken too long but probably would have happened a lot faster if Logan hadn't been standing so close to her, her heart was racing and her fingers flew across the keyboard as fast as possible so he would stop standing over her shoulder before she gave in and attacked his face with hers. _How was it possible to work on any kind of case with something so devilishly beautiful just inches away?_

"He has two restraining orders from other girls in the last five years" she explained and Logan immediately called home.

"I need to speak to Trina it's important" he said quickly. "Aren't you retired? I thought you were 'reconnecting' with your family?" Logan sighed but he didn't seem pleased with the response. "Listen Dad.. Trina's boyfriend… Hello?" he said before he put down the phone in frustration. "Dillions coming to dinner… and my dad is cooking for him" he told her.

"Then let's go show him what we found" Veronica said, gathering up her laptop.

They barely said much on the drive to Echolls family estate but Veronica had to admit, seeing this determined and protective side of Logan was giving her goose-bumps, had he looked this way when he drove to the Camelott to rescue her from Agent Ben?

She was shocked when she found Aaron Echolls, movie star of Breaking Point and Beyond the Breaking Point beating Trina's boyfriend into a bloody mess with a belt. It was brutal and his ankle looked twisted…

 _"Isn't he the big bad wolf? Cigarette burns and Broken nose?"_

Veronica hadn't been able to picture Mr Echolls as anything other than the A List Movie star and grieving widower… but now she couldn't doubt those words she had overheard that day they found Trina at the Sunset Regent… did he beat Logan like this?

 _"You know what your little joke cost me?" he had asked her that day on the beach he had smashed her headlights in._

"Oh hey son… how was school?" Aaron asked cheerfully. "Can you see this young man to his car?"

"With Pleasure" Logan replied as he hauled the bleeding Dillion to his vehicle and Trina ran off to her room crying.

 _What could she say?_ Logan never seemed like any of this kind of beating happened to him… it's like he flicked the same switch that Aaron just had and it was just like it happened to someone else.

"Father knows best" he mused as he walked her towards the car.

 _She wanted to ask.. she wanted to say something… to apologise…_

"Hey.. Do you think that Lilly loved Weevil?" Logan asked quietly, breaking the silence.

"I was wondering when you were going to ask me about that" she replied nervously.

 _Of course… Lilly… how could she have forgotten?_

"Well when the guys caught in her bedroom… you have to wonder" he continued sadly.

"Lilly never mentioned anything to me about Weevil…" Veronica admitted. _It must have been so awful for him to find out this way…_ "I know Lilly loved you" she reassured him.

"Just not like I loved her…" he answered quietly and the pain in those brown eyes broke her heart. He had spent a year mourning a girl he thought didn't love him.

"Logan…"

"Hey… It's okay.. In a way it kind of lets me off the hook… I don't have to feel so guilty anymore" he continued and the way he looked at her made her heart stop.

"Feel guilty about what?" Veronica asked shakily as those brown eyes smouldered at her again.

Her palms were sweating, her heart was racing and every cell in her body was nervous in anticipation as he reached a hand up and cupped her face.

"About moving on" he replied before his lips captured hers and he pulled her closer.

His kisses devoured hers hungrily and she couldn't help the contented moan that escaped her as he held her against him.

 _Was this what it was liked to be kissed so passionately you got weak at the knees?_

She reached her arms around his shoulders to hold herself up as his tongue explored her mouth.

 _There was no ignoring this… something electric was happening between them…_

Was there anymore a perfect mouth in the universe than the one tasting hers right this moment? She whimpered as he put his hand on her hip and tugged her against his firm body.

"We need to talk about this…" she pleaded as she gasped for breath.

"I know…" he chuckled and kissed her again and it was fireworks, like every part of her body had just flared to life and it just wanted to crawl inside his skin and devour his soul.

"What are we doing?" she asked.

"No idea…" he said as he cupped her face and kissed her again.

She wanted to go to his room, she wanted pull his shirt off, her shirt off.. to climb into the back of his car and explore every inch of his masculine body like she had in her dreams… but she couldn't. She was still dating Leo.. that would have to end… Leo's kisses were pleasant but it didn't set her on fire like this _…. And what if he changed his mind tomorrow and decided that there were better off as friends?_ If everyone knew then she would never live this down… best just to play it safe… see how this all played out… _see if after he wasn't so upset with Lilly about Weevil that he still wanted to move on with her best friend?_

"Maybe we should just keep it to ourselves for a while? See what happens?" she suggested. _See if this is still such a good idea when you aren't making me feel so damn hot?_

"Meet in mop closets? Pass each other secret notes in the hallway?" he teased.

 _Come back to our senses?_

"Come on.. I'll drive you home on the backstreets" he said before opening the door for her.

A secret relationship… like the one Lilly had had with Weevil?

It was then Veronica realised that the real reason that Eli Navarro had broken into Lilly's bedroom was to get that spy pen… the one that had been in his possession when had gotten arrested.

Breaking up with Leo hadn't been easy, he was the first really decent nice guy she had met in a long time and she was trading it in to date her dead best friends former psychotic jackass of a boyfriend? She watched Leo help put the rest of recovered dogs from the County Animals Office into the arms of last owner and really hoped she knew what she doing.

Yep… she was a trainwreck.

****since we have been in Logan's head for a while.. I thought it would be fun to spend a few days in Veronica's****


	19. Chapter 19

It had been so long since Logan Echolls could remember waking up and feeling like the world was chirping along to a cheesy 80s song. He felt so light and free. It was such an old fashioned word, but giddy was the only way he could describe what he was feeling. He couldn't remember the last time he was so eager to get to school, he had practically danced into the kitchen this morning. He had scooped up Nadia as she had been frying up his breakfast and almost done a tango with her around the counter.

"Good morning Nadia" he said as he kissed her on the cheek.

"Mr Echolls" she giggled in surprise. "What has gotten into you?"

He just winked at her secretively, nope… this was his good mood and his alone. He picked up his plate while Trina and his father looked at him like he was crazy, pouring himself a glass of orange juice he ignored them.

"Someone is in a good mood" Aaron Echolls commented as he continued reading the local Neptune newspaper. Trina complained about him taking one of her waffles and he just grinned at her, they couldn't ruin his mood today. Even the food tasted better than usual.

"Have a nice day" he said as he grabbed his text books and kissed his sister on the cheek before he left. Her eye was still a little bruised but at least her leech of a boyfriend was out of the picture after last night.

Logan knew exactly what had gotten into him, it was love, and he loved Veronica Mars.

It was pure and simple. She was going to give them a chance and it felt like the sun had come out for the first time after an eternity of grey skies. He felt like he wanted to dance in the middle of the street and sing along to sappy songs on the radio. This was something real… he could feel it. Loving her felt effortless… It was solid and certain and he wanted to wrap himself up in it, he knew she would probably take a little time to reach the same place as him… he had carried this torch for so long he couldn't really remember when it started but he wanted to nurture this. Help it to grow. It was worth it, she was worth it.

He wasn't bulletproof when it came to Veronica… everyone else he had managed to shut out but she had always gotten beneath his armoured exterior, no matter how hard he had tried to fight these feelings.

He thought he would never feel something like this again after Lilly had been killed, he had thought he was doomed to wander the world alone, that she was one of a kind… he had been wrong. He could remember saying prayers that he would find something to ease that loss… Logan would admit to being a little afraid to risk opening up his heart again, but he wanted to dive right in, he never knew that he could ever feel this strongly. She was his shelter… maybe he was only really alive if he allowed himself to risk getting bruised?

Logan skipped his usual Starbucks trip this morning and left early for a change, he was going to get to Neptune High School soon, and she would be there too.

 _Had there truly been a time when he would have dreaded this?_

He scribbled a little note on his notebook and tore it out and slipped it into her locker and lingered down the hall when he saw her arrive. Veronica was chatting to her best friend Wallace Fennell when she picked up the note a little confused and he saw her smile then cast a shy look in his direction before slipping it into her back pocket.

"Good morning beautiful, L"

They were keeping this little budding romance of theirs a secret, but honestly, Logan didn't give a damn what people thought, he wanted to shout it from the bleachers. He would re-enact that whole 10 Things I Hate About You scene if he had to.

She was so cute and petite but the way she handled herself was impressive, she had changed much of the last year and he really just wanted to get to know her… know what it was like to really fall for every part of her.

His body felt like he was pumping with adrenaline, he felt like he could take on just about anything. They passed each other in the hallway with lingering glances but didn't say a word. Being so close to her and not getting to swoop her up in his arms made the kiss he stole with her when he pulled her beside the vending machine before their first lesson after the food court had cleared away that much more enticing.

"Hi" he smiled cupping her face and kissed her.

"Hey" she giggled as she slipped her arms around his waist when he kissed her before she spun him against the wall and then winked as she took off in the opposite direction.

 _Oh she was teasing him…_

He wanted to wait outside her classes and walk her to their next lessons. He wanted her… he wanted to make her his… to really see what this thing between them could be.

"Dude, you missed that chick Jackie from San Diego, she was up with her sister again last night" Dick Casablanca's complained as Logan accompanied him and Beaver into the school parking lot to go and get their Starbucks. He saw Veronica bent over her car engine while a queue was starting behind her, she had broken down while trying to relocate out of the bus lane Mr Clemmons had implemented for the extra field trip bus. Logan wondered why he had never conjured up a grease monkey Fantasy Veronica before now… _damn she looked hot… her t-shirt had ridden up a little and he could see her slim hips… if it wouldn't blow their cover he wanted to walk up behind her and pull her against him, slide his hands up along her back and kiss her neck…_

All these horny thoughts were making him hungry he mused as he sliced into his apple. It was so much effort to keep himself restrained from touching her.

"Hey looks like someone has their eye on that Ms Trash Title" Dick mocked and Logan felt uneasy.

"Oh there's points for efforts… but I'd like to see that car up on some cinder blocks" Beaver his younger brother teased.

"Guys come on…." He was about to protest protectively when Veronica laughed and interrupted him.

"Yeah… Guys come on… the Talent is making a grilled cheese on the engine block…" she retorted mimicking Beavers tone perfectly as she took the knife out of Logan's hand. "Guys come on… you can't put your car up on blocks in the yard… if you don't have a yard" she teased fixing the busted alternator pipe and testing the engine. "You know, I think I can do both side of this little routine now" she sighed, bored. "So how about next time you just don't bother, I got it covered" she smiled much to Dick's disappointment and tossed the knife back to Logan.

 _That's my girl…_ he smiled. Veronica had a smart mouth and a razor sharp wit, she could hold her own against guys like Dick easily… their little verbal sparring matches had been part of what had drawn him to her in the first place, she could challenge him in a way no other girl could… it wouldn't have been that long ago that he would have been the one who probably would have orchestrated the car trouble she was having just so he would make snide jokes like that of his own. She flashed him a knowing smile and Logan had to walk away to keep from breaking out into a grin. _Sassy Sexy Sleuth… damn you make it so hard not to kiss you when you do adorable shit like that…_

He finally got his wish when she ambushed him in the hallway after third period and dragged him into the girls bathroom. She pulled him to her petite body and kissed him so eagerly he nearly fell over at first, he had to lean her against the sink and he could feel himself growing hard and eager as she moaned and pulled him closer. He slid his hands along that tempting bare skin beneath her t-shirt and caressed her lower back while her fingers ran through his hair and she explored his mouth hungrily.

 _Oh god he could stay like this for the rest of his life…_

She pushed him back against the wall and they spun kissing until he picked her up onto the counter and she wrapped her legs around his waist. His hand traced around her stomach and he began to kiss her neck…

 _God he was helpless against the feel of her…_

The heat of her was pressed against him and Logan really wanted to rip all their clothes off right there and take her like his body demanded. She sighed happily and he almost reached a hand up to cup her breast as she gently whispered his name and he pulled away a little panting.

"What?" she asked her hands gripping his shirt.

 _God he had to cool down…_

"I blockaded the door.. I hung an out of order sign…" she reassured him and tried to pull his lips back to hers. So they wouldn't be disturbed?

 _If she kissed him like that again.. he wasn't sure how much control he had left…_

"This is just…." he said quietly breaking eye contact for a moment… if she kept looking at him like that he was going to lose it… _eager wanton sexy sleuth…._ "so wrong… I mean… a boy in a girls bathroom…" he said trying to get his breath back.

"It's so wrong, its right?" she encouraged, wrapping her hands around his collar and pulling his mouth back to hers. He kissed her again but pulled his hands down from her shirt… he didn't have enough control to stop himself from going too far, and this was too important for him to rush… he wanted to take his time… savour it. He'd never had this kind of chemistry with anyone before.

"Yes" he said pulling back a little… "I'm sorry about Dick and those guys…" he told her earnestly.

 _For all the crap I started… you deserve so much better…. I'll give you better…._

"Dick and those guys don't bother me…" she told him simply. "Besides, you and I need to keep up appearances, because Duncan is going to come home someday…" she explained and Logan felt like someone had poured cold water over him.

 _Of course… Duncan. How could he forget?_

"And I don't want him to hear about us… this… from someone else" she told him.

 _Us? There's an Us?_ He thought calmly but nodded in agreement. Thinking about his missing friend was enough to bring the guilt crashing back down… he knew how madly Duncan had fallen in love with Veronica during Junior high… he had listened to him for hours talk about how perfect she was… and perhaps if he was honest, hearing all those things about her had made Logan fall a little in love with her himself while he had been dating Lilly. Now here he was… standing in the girls bathroom with himself pressed between her legs and her hot and eager in front of him… he couldn't go any further with this until he had a chance to talk to Duncan about it. They were friends… he owed him more than this, and if he skipped another class Mr Clemmons would probably call his father, there were only so many allowances he had been given after his mother's suicide, and his teachers were starting to notice. He didn't want to risk having his car confiscated again by his dad.. he needed it if he was going to be sneaking away to see her as much as possible.

"I am beyond tardy for my physics class.." he sighed and kissed her cheek forcing himself to have to pull away from her, because if she kissed him again… he would spend the rest of the day wrapped up in her arms. "and if I remember correctly.. time travel is not yet possible" he joked as he practically skipped towards the door.

 _What was it about being near her made him feel so deliriously happy and lightheaded?_

"Then try petty corruption.." she giggled and pulled out a small paper slip. "Tardy excuse slip… date stamped and untraceable" she winked. "I know people"

He looked at the small slip in his hand.. he could stay a lot longer now he had one of these…. _Was she trying to kill him? The effort not to lift her legs and take her against the door was unfathomable._

He took a deep breath and tried his best to keep his wandering hands from continuing their exploration of her petite body but she grabbed his shirt and hauled his mouth back to hers for another kiss.

"Good luck in Physics" she purred and he decided he wanted to try and skip class again to stay here with her pressed against him making out. "Remember.. force equals mass times acceleration…" she panted between kisses.

 _I'd like to accelerate our clothes off…._

"Light is a particle that can emit the properties of a wave…." She continued and he moaned happily.

 _Who knew learning physics could be so hot?_

"Oh but I'd much rather stay here with you…" he whispered as he was about to put his arms around her body again and pin her to the wall but she teasingly pushed him back.

"I've things to do…" she said casually and turned her head so he could only kiss her cheek.

He whimpered.. _this was excruciating.. God she knew how to turn him on…_

The rest of the day he kept replaying their little make out session in his head and he had almost chewed his pencil in the journalism office in half while he wondered where she was.

 _It was torment to be so close to her and not be touching her…. It was going to drive him insane… he wanted more…_

"Where are you?" he texted.

"Study hall" Veronica had replied… Had she transferred out of his class?

Was it too soon to ask her to come over after school? He knew she had work at her dad's office… was it too soon to test out how sturdy that generously sized desk in the Sexy Sleuths office was?

"How was School son?" his dad asked as Logan sat staring at his physics homework.

"It was good.." he smiled and left to go and finish his studying in his room, besides… he really really needed a long hot shower and some alone time.

What was she doing right now? He thought as he lay on his bed, he was restless.

Picking up his phone he impulsively dialled her work number… _was it too late? Should he hang up?_

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey… it's me" he smiled and the sound of her voice made his something in his chest do little happy backflips of excitement.

"hi.. what's up?" she asked him.

 _Me?_ He mused.

"Nothing… just haven't really got much time to talk to you today…" he said as he fiddled with the games in his collection.

"Yeah.. sorry, I've just been working on a case" she apologized.

"That why to you weren't in Newspaper class?" he asked her.

"Yeah… had to get a phone" Veronica answered cryptically.

"Always work with you…" he teased.

 _Can't you work on me for a while?_

"Girls gotta stay busy somehow" she joked. "Listen… a friends just got here, and I promised to help her out with something.. call you later?" she said sadly.

"Yeah… talk to you later" he replied as she said goodbye and hung up.

"Smitten!" Trina teased from the doorway.

"How long have you been standing there?" Logan complained, noticing his unwelcome audience.

"Just long enough to come tell you that your little _friends_ are here" she replied sarcastically. "In the kitchen"

"Dude… tomorrow, waves and some beers on the beach" Dick declared as Logan came into the living room. "Muchos Gracios" he said to Nadia as she handed him a grilled cheese sandwich and she cast Logan an unhappy look. She didn't really like Dick.

"Did you hear that the Kane's have put up a $50,000 reward to find Duncan?" Beaver asked as he smiled in thanks when Nadia handed him a glass of cola and ice.

"No.. when was this?" Logan asked as he took a seat opposite him.

"Like this morning… guess they are starting to get a little worried" Dick replied casually. "So… you in?"

"uh I'll let you know" Logan replied as he cast a glance at the Urn his father had created… he watched Trina wander into the pool area and lay down on the sun lounger. If Beaver and Dick were planning to be out all evening at the beach.. and his dad was going to be at that glass blowing tomorrow. If he could get rid of her… then it would mean he would have the house to himself?

"Gentlemen, are you staying for Dinner?" Aaron Echolls asked as he walked into the kitchen. If his dad was planning on cooking for himself, Logan knew he wouldn't want an audience.

"Hey Mr E, No, we are cool, we just came to kidnap Logan" Dick smiled.

"Alright, but don't be out too late" Mr Echolls warned.

"Where are we going?" Logan asked as they went outside and climbed into Dick's car.

"Madison's having a few people over" Dick explained and they spent the next few hours over in the Sinclair property while he listened to Maize McCoy try her best to make her latest shopping trip sound exciting.

 _How had he never noticed before how much these bimbo's vapid interests reminded him of sister Trina?_

"But I am totally free this Friday" she smiled and stared at Logan expectantly.

"Hmmm?" Logan asked as he sipped on his beer.

"I can't come to the beach tomorrow because I'm going to that purse store opening in Beverly Hills… but I am totally up for getting together this Friday?" she explained shyly.

"A purse store opening?" Logan queried.

"Yeah.. in Beverly Hills" she beamed, happy at the indication he had been listening to her, which he hadn't really, but she seemed pleased to continue.

"What's the name of the store?" he asked as he pulled out his smartphone and started to google gift cards for his sister… that could be one way to get her out of the house?


	20. Chapter 20

"Are you kidding?" Trina beamed happily as she bounced around the kitchen with her tablet at the thousand dollar gift e-card Logan had just emailed her and the "personal shopper" experience to get her a matching scarf set.

"No, I am very serious, a girl from my class in school recommended it" Logan said as she threw her arms around him, honestly any kind of physical contact with his adoptive sister usually made him feel a little uncomfortable but she seemed genuinely happy at his little impromptu gift.

"See Daddy?" she said excitedly as she flashed him the tablet and headed off change her clothes and get something more Beverly Hills worthy. She had recently started driving his mother's car so Logan didn't have to worry about having to pick her up if she went a little overboard and spent too much of their fathers 'retirement' fund.

"That is very generous of you son…" Aaron commented, regarding Logan carefully.

"She's had a tough couple of months, I thought she could use some cheering up" Logan replied simply. _And nothing cheered his adoptive sister up like spending money._

Little did his father know he was actually just trying to ensure he would have an empty house so he could spend some real quality alone time with a certain teenage private investigator.

He had never craved her company more than he did last night.. that small party in Madison's with those girls throwing themselves at his family name and his father's bank account with their superficial babble had only highlighted to him how much more real this connection he had with Veronica was.

"I must say… I am impressed, with a little more consideration like that… we can start acting like a real family" his father declared as he squeezed Logan on the shoulder and nodded.

"Yeah.." Logan replied bracing himself just encase his father decided to tighten his grip and hurt him, which he was surprised he didn't. He just picked up an orange from the fruit basket and walked outside into the garden to read the rest of his latest book.

It had been difficult to shake his little entourage, Dick and Casey had been trying to get him to do all the driving because his car was biggest, but Logan made several excuses and was glad when Veronica sent him a text asking him to pick her up if she left her car to get repaired.

He felt a little jealous when he saw her chatting with Weevil Navarro as she left the keys with him at the junk yard reception and handed her a piece of paper. His last proper serious girlfriend Lilly Kane had cheated on him with Weevil Navarro… and ever since he had found out, their little friendship had made him a bit insecure.

She was currently working on several cases, but she hadn't really given him much details, she finished giving her father a registration when she climbed into the car.

 _Did the woman ever stop?_ He was just grateful that he had offered to give her a ride so he could sneak her home to his house and he could really spend some time alone with just the two of them, he could unravel the mysteries of exactly what went on in that beautiful blond head of hers that kept her so distracted she could resist his kisses.

They had barely gotten out of his car when he had pulled her into his arms and tasted her lips, he should have told her to bring a bathing suit.. he would next time, he wanted to get into the hot tub with her he mused as they walked through his garden passed the pool.

"So the place is ours…" he said happily as they stood in the living room. He had sent Nadia and the other staff away early for the day. He couldn't wait to just hang out on the couch with her without feeling like they needed to worry about being discovered any moment. "Dad is at a class and Trina is at a very important purse store opening in Beverly Hills" Logan explained.

"Your dad is taking classes?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah… all part of the new Aaron Echolls!" he said sarcastically as he listed his father's latest exploits and showed her the Urn on the fireplace.

"Your dad made a bong?" she enquired when he showed it to her.

"An Urn.. for my mom, he filled it with sea water" Logan said rolling his eyes. "But hey… at least it gets him out of the house"

 _And you back into my arms…._ He thought as he pulled her back to him and captured her lips with his.

 _God she was beautiful…_

Logan tucked a strand of her blond hair behind her ear and guided them both towards the couch. His entire body felt alive, like he was tingly all over and the feel of her mouth against his was like fireworks going off. _He couldn't stop tasting her.. he couldn't get enough.._

"Do you think… this thing between us… will ever get more normal?" she asked shyly.

He smiled at her and they sat down on the couch _. I want this thing between us to get a lot more permanent…_

"What like will we ever hold hands at the mall and buy each other teddy bears that say I Wuv you Beary Much?" he teased.

"Yes… exactly that.. except I want my bear won through some sort of demonstration of ring tossing ability" she joked.

 _I'd buy an entire carnival and spend all day winning you bears if it'd make you happy…_

Her lips were still so close to him… they were mesmerizing and Logan could barely keep his own away from them.

"Well.. secret's are kinda hot too" he joked before he reached his hand behind her head to lay her back down on the couch and began to explore her mouth eagerly. _He had been waiting all day for this…_ he had been on fire with the need to hold her since their little make out session in the girls bathroom at school yesterday.

"Ahem…" a familiar voice said as his father cleared his throat.

 _Oh no…._

Logan quickly climbed off Veronica and stood up and watched as his father entered the living room and left some groceries onto the counter.

"I'm sorry" he said as he gave Veronica a lingering glance and looked at Logan's obvious discomfort. He must have suspected something when he had given Trina that gift certificate this morning. "I didn't realise you had company"

"I thought you were at class" Logan said awkwardly as he stepped to the other side of the room.

"Sylvia cancelled.. Hello Veronica" Aaron Echolls replied. "I was going to try that new tequila marinade but… I'll just go… get out of you guy's hair… there's some chips in the bag if you are hungry" he said as he started to back out of the room. "The blue corn is very good"

"Oh god… did I just get caught by my _dad_ making out on the couch?" Logan cringed.. _the way he was feeling.. the things he had wanted to do on that couch.. it could have been a lot worse…_ he thought as he buried his blushing face into his hands.

"You just got caught by your dad… I got caught by the star of Breaking Point and Beyond the Breaking Point… and I've got lipstick in my teeth" Veronica said shyly as she hurried away to the bathroom.

 _So much for getting a stolen afternoon alone with the girl he loved?_ Logan sighed.

 _Could they continue making out in his bathroom? He'd make an out of order sign if she wanted him to…_

"Logan.. look who just showed up" his father called as he escorted Dick and Beaver Casablanca's into the house as Logan sat on the couch waiting for Veronica to come back.

"Dude… this is why you blew us off? You _have something to do_ on the couch?" Dick complained as he and Cassidy came in and sat down.

Oh no… no… no…

"Uh.. no… I was just…" Logan began nervously as he cast a glance down the hallway towards the bathroom where Veronica would be coming back any minute.

"Hey Man.. you have a chick here?" Dick sneered as he saw the handbag by Logan's feet.

"Uh…. No…" Logan lied quickly, casting a nervous glance at his father. "That's Trinas… she's without her lip gloss… " he said as his heart sank while Veronica noticed the uninvited guests and ducked into the piano room down the hallway to hide. "It's possible she's suffering out there" he said picking up Veronica's bag.

"I was supposed to take that to her" His father said, reaching his hand out for the bag.

 _His dad was going to help him?_

"Uh… okay… yeah…" he said smiling weakly handing his dad the bag who gave him a cold disapproving glare. "Actually I was going to go with you…" Logan began before Dick protested.

 _He wanted to see Veronica… damn it… this was supposed to be his afternoon with her…_

"No dude… you already blew us off in the water.. besides we have business to discuss. This weekend, Mexico, surf and cheerleaders man" he exclaimed as he began to give Logan the highlights of a party weekend he had planned.

 _Veronica was overhearing all of this…. She was leaving… no…._ _He would have to make this up to her._

By the time he had managed to convince Dick that he was unavailable for their lads weekend his father had already returned from dropping Veronica off home.

It felt strange to be indebted to the man but Logan tried his best to make an effort to help his dad in the kitchen tonight, and he hadn't complained much when the tequila marinade had been terrible. He had really screwed up earlier with Veronica, she hadn't replied to his message this evening.

"Veronica is a really sweet girl" his dad commented as the two of them sat at the dining table… the only drawback to his gift certificate idea with Trina, was that it meant the two of them were eating dinner together alone. His tone implied that he disapproved of Logan's secret rendezvous with her at the house… or at least the part where he had lied to Dick and Cassidy about her being there.

"Yeah.. she is…" he replied quietly.

"It's such a shame about her parents… divorce at that age can be rough, but I suppose it doesn't matter so much since she already lives full time with her father" his dad continued.

"They are getting divorced?" Logan asked in surprise.

"It was in the paper" he confirmed, turning the article to show Logan.

Logan had finished loading the dishwasher when he finally plucked up the courage to go and ask his dad about borrowing his prized boat that weekend. Having to ask the man for anything was like trying to swallow glass but since he had seemed to be in a more receptive and helpful mood… maybe it was worth a try?

"What on earth could you want with my boat?" Aaron had questioned him.

"I was thinking about taking Veronica out and uh… I thought it might be nice to take her over to Catalina Island.." he stammered nervously. His father's stare could always make him feel like he was 8 years old again.

"Logan… I have had the best day!" Trina interrupted as she came bursting into the kitchen. "Paws and Claws!" She grinned as she showed off her new nails to match her new purse. "Hi Daddy!" she beamed as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and dropped her bags onto the couch.

"Sure Son.. you can take her out this Friday" Aaron agreed as he put his hand on Logan's shoulder. "But if you ever do anything like that to your sister like that again… you and I will be having an entirely different conversation" he growled quietly as he squeezed his fingers into the flesh of his collarbone.

Logan arranged for his dad's driver to collect her car from Weevil Navarro's uncles autoshop and had it delivered to the school for the final bell. He hadn't seen her much, Wednesday was the one day of the week they didn't really share many classes and she had been pre-occupied with her latest case, every time he had tried to get away Dick and Casey had been following him around trying to convince him to change his mind about this weekend.

"Why take mass transit when you can drive your very own rust bucket?" he smiled as he saw her standing in line for the bus. "I had my dad's driver pick it up" he explained as he playfully tapped the headlights.. _headlights which he had previously broken on one occasion._ She smiled in surprise and walked over to join him as he sat on the hood of the car, tossing her the keys. "Filled with fresh stolen parts.. ready to go" he smiled.

"Wow… I'll try and keep this little gesture in mind while you and your buddy's are down in Mexico this weekend, scamming cheerleaders" she mused sarcastically.

 _Ah… so she **had** been upset with him._

"Yeah… well I had to tell Dick I'm not available" he admitted. "I have other plans"

 _If you are willing…._

God why was this making him so nervous?

"There are cheerleaders with low self-esteem available domestically?" she teased playfully.

 _Damn she was always riding on him…_

"Are you free Friday? I was thinking maybe you and I could go out?" he told her shyly. With other girls he could be a player, he had game and could be aloof and mysterious… with Veronica… he just totally lost his cool. It was like the same thing that made him feel giddy around her made him feel like a tongue-tied freshman trying to ask the girl next door to the dance.

"Here? In Neptune?" she asked happily in disbelief. "What about our little secret?" she teased whispering.

"I thought maybe we could do a practise run over on Catalina Island?" he smiled.

A real date… the first proper date he had been on in a long time with someone who he really cared about. Waiting for her answer was giving him nervous butterflies in his stomach.

"What you say we skip school on Friday and take a little trip out on my dad's boat… dinner and a movie?" he asked shyly.

 _Come on Teachers Pet Mars… do something bad with me…_

He could see the idea warring inside her head and she smiled.

"I'll pencil you in" she agreed.

"So it's… what is the word.. a date?" Logan smiled happily. He was so pleased he could have floated back to his car.

"Nice of your dad to let us use his boat" she replied.

"Yeah.. yeah I think he actually likes you" Logan mused. Which was strange because his father was even being nicer to him since she had been over yesterday. "When he saw that stuff in the paper about your parents.." he began.

"Logan!" Dick called impatiently. "What the hell man?"

It was Logan's turn to drive them home today.

"What stuff?" Veronica asked puzzled. _Oh… she didn't know yet?_

"Uh… just something in the paper… I don't know… so um tenish? Abercorn… slip 5" Logan smiled as he left.

He had been in a good mood for the rest of the day, the Cartoon birds and Disney animals were back zippy-do-dah-ing their way around his kitchen. Logan had busied himself by asking Nadia what kind of sandwiches he should pack for his date, he knew she was staff but the aging forty seven year old Hispanic chef had been with the family since Logan was 10 years old and often times she was the most company he had around the house.

"Hey Man… check this out" Dick declared later that evening as Cole pulled out his flip phone and showed him a video of a naked girl in a hot tub sucking on a popsicle in a very suggestive manner.

"Dude… don't…" Logan complained and made him turn the screen away.

Ever since that video of Lilly's maimed body had gone Viral, Logan abhorred these kinds of clips. It was such a violation.

"Doesn't she go to our school?" Beaver asked. _Yes… she was the girl that Veronica had been trying to help this week._

"That's Shelleys hot tub" Ryan answered. "I was there man.. she got pretty wild" he joked.

"I'm serious shut that shit off" Logan complained, it was a sore point with him.

"Alright… relax" Cole swore as he put the phone away.

"I bet she could help him relax" Ryan joked and made a fake blow-job motion.

 _Lay down with Dog's and you will get fleas…._ Veronica had told Duncan a few months ago… maybe it was time Logan seriously re-evaluated his inner circle?

 _"Hi This is Logan with today's Inspirational Message:_

 _We are, in the end, a the sum of our parts – Susannah Calahan"_

The video was viral and was being whispered about around almost every computer in the school the following day, it made him feel ill. He hadn't seen much of Veronica around campus other than the occasional stolen glance at lunch but he could guess that she was spending time consoling her friend.

 _He would be spending all day tomorrow with her, he would have her all to himself_ he thought happily as he accompanied his sister Trina around the Mall, _was it stupid that he wanted her opinion on getting a new shirt? He wanted this to be a new beginning… the start of something… and what says that better than an uncomfortable afternoon with your bitchy older sister picking out clothes for you?_

"I'll see you tomorrow x" he text her as he stared at the shopping bag on the chair in his room and drifted off happily to sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

Veronica was impressed that Carmen had a much better soul than she did, the taunting and video's spreading around campus were making her regret that she hadn't launched that website herself. Cad deserved to burn for this she thought angrily as she listened to the two guys sniggering behind her.

"It's all fun and games until one of you get's my foot up your ass" She threatened and watched as they scampered away. She hadn't really watched the video herself yet, she had been so busy trying to hatch a plan to block it from going Viral through her mutually assured destruction idea that the content of the video itself had seemed irrelevant, that is… until she noticed the hanging stars and Chinese lamps in the background. She knew this party… it was a year and a half ago at Shelley Pomoroy's house.

The last time she had been the hopeful sad Veronica, the one who still dreamed of home-coming dances and having a perfect life, the girl who had pined away for Duncan Kane. The last night she had been a virgin.

She barely remembered that night, someone had drugged her and she had woken up alone in the guest bedroom the following morning searching for her underwear, the discomfort and pain had made it obvious what had happened the night before. She had stumbled to her car to find someone had written slut on her windshield and it was the first time that someone had slashed three of her tires so she had had to walk to the Sheriffs Office.

It was the night she had been reborn as the girl determined to pick herself back up and stop being the sad girl who was waiting for someone to come and rescue her and catch Lilly's killer herself. She had cut her long hair into a short bob, wielded her camera like her own personal weapon and gotten tough.

Her father's recovery of the missing Duncan Kane was going a lot slower than they had both hoped, but he had confessed about leaving the notice in the paper for her mother. He was leaving himself options to move on… that was always a good idea wasn't it?

 _Leaving the bad things in the past and moving on?_

 _I mean… if you couldn't really remember it… did it have to dominate so much of your life then?_ She pondered as she stared at the video file. _Except, sometimes you couldn't move on until you accepted certain truths, and there were parts of that night that she didn't know were true… not for sure._

She had been mulling over that very thought when Mac came into the Mars Investigations Office to update her on the fake passport they thought Duncan might have been using.

"Roberto Del Bandien" she smiled.

"Who is he?" Veronica laughed.

"I know who he was.. and that he had his old passport shipped to an Argentinian airport" she explained.

"Dad.. this is Mac" Veronica explained and her father took the details.

"So..10% of your fee?" Mac negotiated.

"You'll get your cut" she smiled. So far Weevil was owed 8% also, and she really wanted to get Mac alone to look at the time stamp on this video. "New question… how do I find out when this was taken?" she asked, showing Mac the file of Carmen in the hot tub.

"December 7th, 2016, 3.33am" Mac told her.

The night of Shelly's party, both she and Carmen couldn't remember the same night.

Suddenly Veronica had a lead, if Cad had roofied his girlfriend that night, then he must know who had supplied the drugs. She was going to use her father's cell phone tracker to hunt him down when she received a small video from Carmen of Cad tied bound and naked to the school flag pole in revenge. Seem's the PCHers weren't as forgiving as Carmen after that video went around of one of the girls in their neighbourhood.

She drove to the school early that morning to leave in her English report before her date today with Logan, and found Cad still tied there. Part of the trouble of being an 09er who ended up on that pole, is that most of the time your parents thought you were off staying with a friend, so he had probably been here most of the night.

"How's it hanging, Cad?" she asked mockingly.

"I guess you and Carmen got those bikers to put me up here" he accused her.

"Nope.. this one oddly enough, was nothing to do with me" she smiled happily. Karma had a way of sorting these things out without her help occasionally it seemed. "But I might be convinced to help cut you down" she offered.

"What do you want from me bitch?" he snarled.

"Information… who gave you the drugs the night of Shelleys Party" she demanded. "Oh that's right.. yes… you roofied your girlfriend… you are all class" she spat at him as his face turned guiltily.

"It wasn't roofies… it was GHB" he corrected.

"You are so lucky she has a better soul than I do.. because I would have taken you down with me" Veronica said angrily.

"Whose going to want to touch her now?" he retorted. "If I can't have her… no one can"

"What a prince" she said sarcastically.

"So what.. you going to cut me down if I apologize?" he queried.

"Nope.. I just want a simple answer to a simple question. Who gave you the drugs?" she asked as she stood in front of him with the small blade in her hand.

"It was Logan…" he sighed. At first she wasn't sure that she had heard him correctly. "Logan Echolls" he confessed and Veronica felt like she was going to throw up.

"Are you going to cut me down now?" he asked but his voice sounded like it was coming from far away.. she couldn't breathe and she was getting tunnel vision. She stood up closer to him and ripped the covering of his tattoo off to reveal a large heart with Sean signed inside it before she stumbled back to her car.

 _Logan Echolls?_

 _Hottest kiss of my life… let's go to Catalina Island and I'll buy you an I Wuv You Beary Much… can't wait to see you tomorrow.. Logan Echolls?_

Surely if it had been Logan… her body would have remembered?

 _Unless her body did remember and that's why she responded to him like she did?_

She climbed shaking back into her car and drove home, she was grateful that her father had left this morning to chase down a lead to go and find Duncan Kane in Havana, Cuba. She had the place to herself. She could curl into a little ball and wrap Backup protectively around herself and cry herself to sleep, trying desperately to shake the odd memories of sensations of that night, the way her limbs had refused to respond, the weightlessness. Veronica hadn't even touched anything alcoholic since that night, she hadn't really even been properly to a party.

Most of the day she alternated between uncontrollable crying and throwing up… one way or another she told herself as she looked at the fourth missed call from Logan on her cell phone and she dried herself after third shower she had taken.. she just couldn't seem to scrub herself clean… she felt sick and dirty… was that whoever did this to her.

They were going to pay.

Logan had woken up Friday morning and picked up breakfast for Trina and his dad as a thank you for allowing him to use his boat that day. It was worth it making more of an effort with them both if it helped him to be able to do things like this with Veronica more often, she texted him last night that Duncan's fake passport had been found and that her father was probably going to be bringing him home soon in the next few days, so Logan wanted everything to be flawless today… it might be the only chance he really had to prove to her that he wasn't just an obligatory psychotic jackass… that he was actually head over heels for her… that he was someone worthy of dating even if she wasn't still fully over his best friend.

He just wanted her to give him a fair chance and if Duncan came home and she ended things… he really just wanted to be able to remember one perfect day with her.

"Aww look at you all eager and horny" Trina had teased him.

"Ha ha very funny…" he retorted as he fussed over the sandwiches again that Nadia had spent the morning making for him.

"Naw.. It's cute" Trina smiled. "You're like a little puppy who just wants to bury his bone" she said trying to squeeze his cheek.

"Will you stop?" he pleaded. "I'm nervous enough as it is…"

"Then you should wear the white one" Trina suggested.

"What?" Logan asked as he looked down at his blue shirt. _Veronica liked blue…_

"You are less likely to have bad posture if you wear something that you don't want to end up with coffee stains all over… you should wear the white one" Trina explained before she headed back off out to the pool.

 _What was wrong with his shirt?_ Logan fretted. She was a terrible actress, and an awful big sister… but she was also a bit fashion obsessed… he hated that she could get into his head like this sometimes… Logan sighed as he headed to his bedroom to change out of the shirt into his white jumper they had gotten him yesterday.

He got down to the yacht about 8am, checked the engine three times, and made sure there was enough gas. He checked the satellite phone was on board and that he had the list of emergency radio listings encase something went wrong and he had to call for help.

The sea air was calm and Logan watched as the sunlight bounced off the water ahead on the horizon… it was a good day for a trip out on the boat. He smiled as he put the ice into the wine cooler and chilled the champagne, he arranged the table setting about four different ways until he was happy with him. He couldn't stop pacing.

Since when did he get this nervous?

 _Maybe since this is the first time since Lilly that something like this has actually mattered to you?_

He waited eagerly to see the familiar blond teen detective as she would make her way down to the marina. She was a little late, but that was okay, he had said 10-ish.. she would get here soon. She probably had some work to do or something…

It was around 11.35am that Logan started to wonder if she had had car trouble again?

"Hey.. It's Logan… do you need me to come pick you up? If we don't head soon we are going to miss the movie.. unless you want to just rent a DVD on the way over and we can watch it here? Let me know" he said leaving her a voicemail.

"Engine trouble?" Antonio McCoy asked as he came back in from his afternoon fishing trip with his two son's.

"No.." Logan smiled politely and watched as they tied up their boat and headed out of the marina.

He looked at his watch, 3.12pm. The ice in the bucket had completely turned to water and the bottle was bobbing about expectantly and he felt something in his heart twist. She wasn't coming.

She hadn't replied to his texts, she hadn't called him back.. she had stood him up?

 _Had her father found Duncan? Was she having second thoughts now that he was coming back?_

 _Maybe she had gotten cold feet and the date just made it too real?_

 _Had he pushed for this too fast?_

He pulled the lid off the bottle and sat there the rest of the afternoon drowning his sorrows wondering what he had done wrong too miserable to even sample the food that Nadia had spent the morning preparing for them.

"Oh what's the matter? You pre-mature early?" Trina teased as he called her for a ride home.

"Just don't…" he sighed and did his best to ignore her for the rest of the drive home.


	22. Chapter 22

"Can you smell the chalk boards honey?" Keith Mars mused as he spoke to his daughter Veronica that morning over the phone. "That's the smell of Harvard right there" he grinned.

Duncan Kane, his daughters potential half-brother was sitting in a coffee shop just twenty feet away from him. It had taken him a total of three weeks to locate him, and for such a spoiled sheltered rich boy, he had made the hunt rather challenging. The former Sheriff was impressed, had it not been for Veronica's contact on tracking down that fake passport, he might never have found him before the end of the school year.

"I'll see you when you get home dad" Veronica said, she sounded a little distant but he just put it down to her being tired. Veronica had loved Duncan… and after those accusations of Celeste Kane about her mother's affair with Jake Kane, he could only imagine the kinds of conflicted emotions she must be feeling. The uncertainty.

"I'll call you when we land" Keith told her. "I love you honey"

"I love you too dad" Veronica answered before they hung up.

It was good news about her father finding Duncan, she was glad he was safe and honestly, she would feel a lot safer when she had one more barrier to put between her and her potential rapist Logan Echolls. She had spent the weekend dodging Wallace as well. She had spent the last few days compiling a list of people who had been at that party from their facebook and Instagram posts and their my-space pages. Unplugging the phone would have been easier than listening to the sound of his voice when he left a voicemail at her house, how could he still have sound so innocent on the phone if he had done something like that to her?

She had torn apart every interaction she had had from him since Lilly's funeral, the way he had cornered her in the school library and demanded she take his side and stand with the Kane's in the press conference against her father over the Lilly Kane murder investigation. The way he had treated her with such utter disdain and malice… the way he had smashed up the headlights on her car… all the awful things he had said to her… the days he had pushed her until she cried?

Hadn't he even said it himself that day in the guidance counsellor's office? He blamed Veronica for Lilly's murder… did he hate her enough to do something like this? Could the same person who had rescued her that day at the Camelott have been the same person to have hurt her this way?

She didn't want to think that the lips that been brushing up against hers could have been capable of something like that… but Cad had told her himself.. and when she pushed herself to try and remember, she could remember the taste of salt… and lime… and Logan towering over her… too close..

She looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes were blood shot from crying and she looked pale, she had to get to school, at least she could rule out the PCHers and Wallace hadn't even been in Neptune until six months ago.

She breathed in deeply and pulled her game face on.

 _Time to go to war. She wasn't a victim, she was a survivor… and she didn't just survive, she made the asshole who hurt her and the people she cared about pay._

Logan had tried to convince himself that whatever the reason Veronica hadn't shown this weekend or called him back was just because she needed a little space, it was probably just the news about Duncan coming back that had her a little spooked and he would ask her about it on Monday morning when he saw her at school.

He was trying to ignore the climbing panic that the fact she hadn't returned his calls might mean that she was getting ready to rip his heart out and stomp on it… He stood in the parking lot with Dick as he gushed over his new board he had picked up while he had been in Mexico this weekend.

"You dinged it your first time out?" Logan joked to see Dick panic but he was actually primed waiting to see Veronica passing by… this was the one spot that you had to pass to get into the school building, she would have to come this way.

"Man.. don't even joke about that.. this thing is like my child!" he said firmly.

"OH.. Dude… the thought of _you_ breeding?" Logan shuddered. "Mosel toff!" he laughed as he spied Veronica finally and excused himself to go try and fall into step beside her.

"Hey Veronica.." he called happily. _If he was casual about it and acted like it was no big deal surely that would avoid any unpleasant awkwardness?_ "Veronica!" he called but he could swear that the sound of his voice had just made her increase her pace.

"Hey… would you slow down for two seconds?" he pleaded, she didn't stop, instead she looked over her shoulder briefly at him and the ice in her blue eyes took him by surprise almost stopping him cold and she walked even faster.

He could barely process what that look meant before he felt hands on his chest pushing him backwards and just like that, she had disappeared into the crowd of other students getting off the school bus and he watched helplessly as his chance to talk to her was gone.

"See when they run away like that.. it's kind of a hint that they are not interested" Weevil told him and stepped in front of him again, blocking him from being able to follow her.

"You don't want to start with me today Paco…" Logan said in frustration. He had just ruined his only chance to get her alone before school started and Dick and Casey became his shadows for the day. The one chance he had to speak to her before Duncan's flight arrived home from Cuba this afternoon.

"Are you sure? It was in my day planner under Goals" Weevil mocked.

"How is this any of your business?" Logan asked angrily.

"Well I'm just looking for Veronica… so if you think you are going to lay a hand on her the way you did Lilly…" Weevil threatened. It was at the mention of Lilly's name coming out of the bikers mouth that Logan shoved him backwards.

"Don't you even say her name!" Logan snapped.

"Actually.. she kinda liked it when I said her name" he sneered.

"You think she ever had any real interest in you?" Logan spat angrily. "You're a porkrine.. you are what people grab and they are stoned and they just want garbage"

"What makes it worse… thinking that she had feelings for me? Or that she was just using me for Sex?" Weevil taunted and cast a lingering look over his shoulder at the direction Veronica had gone.

Jealousy and possessiveness tore through him.

"You stay away from Veronica!" Logan snapped, grabbing Weevil by the jacket.

"I'm not the one she's running away from" Weevil growled before Mr Sanders came and broke the two of them up but those words stuck in Logan's head all day.

She had been running away from him.. why?

He slipped several notes into her locker asking her to meet him by Lilly's memorial fountain after morning break… then lunch… and then after school… she hadn't and with each rejection he was becoming more and more desperate. He had hoped to get the chance to talk to her during their newspaper class but she had excused herself after fifth period to go home sick and he felt like he was going to lose his mind.

 _Had she just been ill? Or had he done something?_

 _Had she been so upset his father had had to drive her home when Dick and Beaver had come over, that she was still angry and stood him up?_

Finally he couldn't take the questions anymore and he drove over to her house. He knocked on the door but no one answered, he could tell someone was home though, the light was on in the living room and the dog kept barking at the door… he felt nervous when she finally appeared in her dressing gown and started to pet him.

"Hey buddy… what is it?" she asked before she looked towards the door, he could see from the small fingers cautiously moved the blinds that she had peeked outside, she knew he was here.

"I'm not leaving…" he told her quietly. _He'd camp outside this door if he had to…_

"It's kind of a bad time" she said defiantly and stared at him coldly.

 _What was happening here? Why was she looking at him that way?_

 _"_ So I should come back when? Never? Does that work for you?" he asked but the glare in her blue eyes told him the idea wasn't entirely disagreeable to her.

 _He was feeling desperate now…_

 _"_ What did I do Veronica?" he pleaded, his voice almost breaking.

 _I love you please don't shut me out… tell me how to fix this…_

"Can you just tell me… so I can at least apologize or explain?" He begged.

He watched as her face hardened into a cool almost expressionless indifferent mask.

"Alright… explain to me why you were the one with GHB the night of Shelley Pomoroy's Party the night someone drugged and raped me" she demanded.


	23. Chapter 23

"Explanation? Apology?" Veronica demanded angrily as Logan Echolls stood in her doorway, she was just grateful that she hadn't put Backup in her bedroom before she had answered the door like she usually did.

"You were raped?" he spluttered in disbelief. His voice sounded very far away to himself. _Someone had hurt Veronica… his friend… the girl he loved… and it had partly been his fault._

He thought back to that night of Shelley's party last year, before she had cut her hair and she was dressed in that white dress that had driven him crazy because she had looked like an angel… she had looked so innocent and he had been furious with her because she had told him to go to hell that day in the library when he had told her to go the record denouncing her father's case against Jake Kane.

As angry as he had been… he recalled how she had been so out of it she could barely stand up that night… he should have taken her home. Guilt ripped him apart.

He immediately wanted to go to her, to wrap her protectively in his arms and cradle her to him, to hold her and check she was okay.

"Okay don't!" she said, putting her hand up to discourage him. "Seriously!"

"What happened to you?" he pleaded.

"You tell me" she asked expectantly and he felt like she had just punched him in the stomach.

 _I'm not the one she's running away from.. Weevil's voice tormented him._

"Wait.. wait.. you think that I….?" he almost cried.

"I was told that you were the one with the drugs" she said firmly.

 _She thinks I did this?_ He felt ill.

"Yeah.. I got some liquid X when I was in TJ with Luke and Sean… we were just going to have some fun…" he told her quietly.

"Fun? Like sex with unconscious people fun?" she asked.

Veronica looked at Logan and saw the shock there and part of her wanted to throw herself against his chest and cry, to let him wrap himself around her… to help her put herself back together again. She was trying her best to make her expression look as concrete as possible but right now, until she had all the facts, she couldn't trust him.

"Fun like go to a rave fun.." he said quietly.

"Okay you've convinced me… bygones" she snapped bitterly.

While he had thought he was just out having fun passing drugs around? Carmen had been filmed naked in a pool and she had been raped.

"What can I do?" he pleaded. "What can I do to make it better?" Logan begged.

 _There had to be something… he couldn't just leave it like this…_

"I'm going to find out who did to me and I am going to make them pay" she swore and he could see from the resolve in her eyes, she meant every word of it, and when she found out who it had been, he would be right there to tear them apart.

"Even if it was you" she added coldly. "Now excuse me… I have to go throw up now" and slammed the door in his face.

Logan hadn't been able to move much further than sitting in the front seat of his car.

Even before he had known he was in love with Veronica.. she had been Lilly's best friend.

 _"You guys will have to look after each other when I'm gone" Lilly's voice whispered to him again._

He hadn't looked after either of them… why hadn't he been more like Duncan that night?

 _Oh god.. he had practically invited people to slobber all over her when he had started those body shots…_

Duncan would have stopped it… except he had drugged Duncan to get him to loosen up a little. This was all his fault.

 _"You can't be the Calvary and a martyr man… pick a side"_

Logan Echolls wasn't sure he had ever hated himself as much as he did in this exact moment.

 _You lie down with dogs… you are going to get fleas._

 _It's like you have been slowly going over to the dark side bit by bit that I didn't notice when you turned into a full fledged Jackass!_ Duncan had told him just before Christmas.

She had needed him.. and he hadn't been there… and then he had started a reign of terrorizing her at school so there would be no one there for her… he couldn't stop the tears from falling.

 _What the hell had done?_

The girl he loved thought he was a rapist.


	24. Chapter 24

Logan had survive most of the last few days in a bit of a haze, he wasn't sure he had eaten anything much more substantial than cereal, anything to avoid having to leave his room. Anything to avoid having to hang out with any of those guys who might have been Veronica's rapist, and truthfully…. He couldn't bare seeing her if those blue eyes were going to look at him with such distrust and betrayal again. She hadn't reached out to him since her accusation, not that he could blame her.

He felt completely immobile. He was still in shock.

The night of Shelley's party when he had gone home with that freshman Cynthia, someone had attacked Veronica… and he should have been there to protect her. The metamorphosis from the sweet innocent Veronica who had been his friend to the petite camera wielding girl who kicked ass and took names had been for her survival, he understood that now.

No, staying home was the right move at this moment in time because Logan wasn't sure he could control the urge to start trying to beat out a confession from everyone who might have been at that party so he had just faked an illness the last few days.

Duncan Kane had arrived home safe and sound two days ago, he had received a call from Celeste to invite him over for dinner that evening the morning after Veronica had accused him but Logan had been too ashamed to face him. The guilt was tearing him apart.

He knew from Dick's angry text's this afternoon that Veronica was out there looking for answers. She had destroyed his new surfboard. Had Dick been involved in this?

 _"I'm going to find out who did this to me and I am going to make them pay…"_

It was shortly after receiving several angry requests from Dick that they go and seek out some kind of revenge that he needed to get a change of scenery, and to calm the Casablanca's boy down a little. So he ventured into the kitchen where his dad was trying to cook up another masterpiece… was he trying to put Nadia out of a job?

"Ah.. for you… tonight we have Aaron's very special crab-cakes!" his dad declared.

 _Was he joking? Didn't he remember the trip to the hospital after his 7th birthday when he had sampled those strange fish looking things at the Premiere to that horrible Christmas movie "Beyond Christmas" when they discovered his allergy?_

"I'm sure I'll thoroughly enjoy them… right up until my throat closes over and I shuffle off this mortal coil" Logan replied sarcastically. "Perhaps my last words will be Great Crab Papa?"

Aaron Echolls just gave his son a strange puzzled look _. Some father… one more thing in the long list of shit his dad didn't know about him._

"I'm allergic to shell fish" he told him bluntly.

"Oh… I forgot" Aaron sighed.

"You didn't forget… you never knew" Logan complained, sure isn't that why for four years in a row that same catering company from the Premiere had been providing finger food at the Echolls family parties even though it meant he could barely eat anything from it?

"I did, I just confused you with your sister!" Aaron retorted.

"I'm the one allergic to shell fish, Trina is the one allergic to work!" Logan snapped, he usually did his best to avoid direct confrontation with his father, but he had been so on edge lately that even a beating would be better than what he was feeling right now.

"You know. you seem to have it in your head that I don't know a thing about you… I'm your father. I know plenty!" his dad said as he walked to Logan's side of the table. Instinctively Logan started to walk away from the kitchen and into the living room area.

"Then round one of how well do you know your son… when is my birthday?" Logan snapped. _Surely as his father… he should have noticed how upset he had been over the last few days? That he might have needed to talk to someone?_

"February" he answered. It had actually been in January.. Logan's birthday was the day that his father had been released from hospital after his stabbing.. and he had spent it arguing with his mother over his latest affair revelations.

"Wow… you got a vowel right" Logan replied sarcastically and turned on his heel before Aaron grabbed his arm painfully.

"You know I have been pretty tolerant of your wise ass remarks but you are pushing it…" his father growled. Logan tried his best not to yelp in pain as his fathers fingers squeezed into the flesh. "Look.. does it matter at all… that I'm trying?" his father pleaded.

 _If only you didn't have to try… what kind of parent has to **try** to love their child? To give a damn… to know the basic things about them?_

He nodded a little, but only enough to make his father release his arm.

"I'm committed to this family Logan.. I am committed to you… you will see that" his father promised, but there was an undertone to that statement that Logan didn't quite understand. Like he was more promising it to himself than to Logan before he went back to try and pick something else out of the fridge to make for dinner.

"Well let's face it.. we've got limited time… because my 18th birthday… whenever that is… Mom's inheritance comes through and its bon voyage!" Logan mocked before he turned on his heels and headed to his car.

Veronica stood outside the Kane Estate trembling, it had been two days of trying to piece together that night in her life and all the signs led back to Duncan? She couldn't quite accept it.

"Yeah, I saw you" Carrie Bishop had told her. "He was naked and on top of you.. the door was laying wide open, I'm surprised I was the only one who saw you"

Something had gone seriously wrong in her universe. _Had Duncan drugged and raped her? And I accused Logan? Oh god…._

She pressed the button and stood expectantly at the door.

It was Duncan.

"Welcome back.. so Carrie Bishop said we ended up in the guest bedroom together the night of Shelly Pomoroys party last year… care to elaborate?" she snapped angrily.

"What?" he asked nervously and cast a quick glance back into the house. "What are you talking about?"

"I want to know what happened" she pleaded.

"I barely even remember that party.. the whole nights a blur" he explained evasively.

"She said you were naked and on top of me…." Veronica said fighting back the tears.

"I can't believe this…" he sighed, like his worst nightmare was coming true.

"You were the one who raped me?" she accused him.

"Raped you?" he choked. "So… I'm a murderer and a rapist now?" he asked his blue eyes looked at her like she was going crazy as she began shaking and fighting back the tears. "What are you doing? Why are you acting like this?" he pleaded. "Why are you acting like you weren't there?!"

"What?" she spluttered. _Was he trying to blame her for this?_

"You were there too you know… I thought we had this unspoken rule.. like we are never going to talk about it… but now I raped you?" he asked. "I came into the bedroom and sat down beside you, you put your arms around me and I told you I missed you… you kissed me and we spent the night together… if you had said no.. I would have stopped… you missed me too.." he explained and Veronica could tell from his voice that he really believed what he was saying.

"You don't remember?" he breathed finally.

 _She didn't._

"Kind of a bad feeling huh?" he said in sympathy.

"Well if it was so tender and loving.. why did you leave me there? Why did I wake up by myself?" she cried.

"Because I realised what I did…" he told her anxiously.

"But it was consensual right?" she begged.

"Yes…" he told her. _So I wasn't raped…._ Some horrible knot of tension that Veronica had been carrying around for the last year eased. _She hadn't been violated after all.. it had been her choice… she hadn't been that powerless…_

"Then what about that was so wrong?" she sobbed _. They had loved each other… why was he still doing this to her?_

"Because you are my sister! And I knew it… even after my mother told me.. I tried to just cut you out of my life… I love you… but it won't go away!" he cried.

 _Oh God… he did know… and he kept it from me… and Lilly died thinking she was my sister…_

Veronica heard a shocked gasp behind her and turned to see Celeste Kane staring at them as she stood in their drive way. She had to get out of here. She drove to the only person who she hadn't alienated over the last few days, Wallace.

He found her sitting parked outside his driveway and then for the first time since that morning after the Sheriff's Office, she let it all come pouring out. She told him everything, all of it. She finally let someone inside the head of Veronica "Trainwreck" Mars.

"Not to say I told you so.. but can you see why I kind of keep things to myself?" she sniffled. "I think I can go home now.."

"Maybe you should just stay here?" he offered, his brown eyes were full of sympathy.

"No.. I feel better" she assured him. "Of course now you feel worse…" _What kind of person was she to just lay all this stuff on someone?_

"You don't even need to worry about that right now… I just wish I could do something… or say something…" Wallace said softly. He had already done more than enough, he had been there, he had let her get it out when she had needed it.

She decided since she had already gone this far, she would let him into her life completely and showed him the Lilly Kane casefiles. Her father was away in Vegas tonight, she was sure it was related to this but he wouldn't admit to anything. She really hoped they weren't going to have to start another game of Spy vs Spy, she was too tired.

But she had miles to go before she slept… she owed Logan a really big apology… she hadn't seen him the last few days at school, hadn't gotten to talk to him after Beaver had told her that Logan had left the party early with another girl so it couldn't have been him. Biting her lip she dialled his number.

"Hey… it's me.. can you come over?" she said as she left a voicemail, she was surprised, there had been no inspirational message this time.

Logan was just putting fuel in his car when he received a missed call alert.. it was from Veronica and there was a voicemail. His heart was racing as he put the phone to his ear.

 _She wanted to see him?_

He barely said anything as she let him inside and asked him to sit down opposite him; she looked regretful and a little nervous as she took his hands in hers.

"I'm so sorry… I know now that it wasn't you… and I am sorry I accused you" she told him, her voice was shaking, her blue eyes were wide and apologetic. _She had no need to look at him that way… he was the one who had failed her._

"It's okay…" he said, taking her hand in his. _Just tell me who did this so I can make this right…_

"No it's not.. and I am really sorry.." she continued.

"Veronica.. all I care about is you…" he assured her. "Did you find something out?"

He wasn't really sure if he could live with hearing more of the details… but he had to know what had happened that night.

"Yeah" she said, looking down at their entwined fingers.

"You wanna tell me about it? Or you don't have to.. I am just here for whatever you need.." he said softly _. I will make sure you never need anything ever again… I'll protect you from now on_ …

"I was drugged… but I wasn't…" she said shyly. "I with Duncan…"

 _Oh no… she had been hurt… because he had drugged Duncan…_

"I'm sorry.." he whispered as the full weight of his actions that night settled into an uncomfortable pit in his stomach. He couldn't even meet her eye now. _He had failed them both… in the most despicable way._

"Apparently I was out of it.. and he was wasted.. and our feelings.. and nature…" she elaborated.

"I'm sorry" he repeated.

"I'm just glad you are here…" she said before she curled herself up into his lap and he cradled her to his body and wrapped his arms around her. _He would make this up to her… even if he had to spend the rest of his life doing it._


	25. Chapter 25

Logan received the call from his father that dinner was ready while Veronica lay nestled beside him with her head against his shoulder. Keith Mars was in Vega's tonight and Logan really didn't want to leave Veronica alone… not if Dick was still angry and he hadn't been around to calm him down earlier.

"Dad's invited you over for dinner" Logan told her softly.

"Okay" she agreed happily before she cupped his face and kissed him gently. Even after she had found out about her night with Duncan.. she was still giving him a chance. He kissed her back passionately. Logan had never felt more protective of anything in his life, had never wanted anything more in his life than her love in return and he wanted her to trust him. He wanted to stay there in her apartment, he wanted to keep it just the two of them, he didn't want anything to take her away from him again, but when his phone chirped insistently for the second time they left the couch and got into his car.

"He will probably try and make us eat by candle light" Logan mused, his father was theatrical and a bit of a show off, he wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't served on a silver platter and they were attended by waitresses and butlers.

"Okay.. showtime" he joked as he pulled her against him and kissed her for as long as possible until they got to the front door.. just one last taste of her before he had to spend the rest of his evening looking at her tempting lips from across the table. He used his elbow to open the door and walked backwards inside, he couldn't take his mouth away from his explorations when she was moaning happily like that…

"SURPRISE!"

Veronica gasped and Logan turned to see almost every face he knew standing in his foyer staring at them in shock. There were balloons and tables sitting around… was this a birthday party? He followed her gaze and saw her glancing directly at Duncan…. _Oh no…_ their secret was out now.

"Welcome home son" Aaron smiled as he walked towards them.

"Is this party 9 months early or 3 months late?" Logan asked awkwardly and stepped inside.

"Got a lot of lost years to make up for… I'm just getting started" He smiled.

"Good idea" Logan retorted sarcastically and stepped beside Veronica who was still looking at the scene in front of them in shock. He reached his hand out for hers.

 _Please don't run…._

Shyly she gripped tightly onto his and he walked them inside the room.

"What the hell man? Please tell me this is some kind of reality show called my Skank" Dick asked angrily as Veronica bit her lip embarrassed.

"Goodbye Dick.." Logan said coldly. _Nothing was coming between them this time.. no one would…_ he thought as he cast a brief glance at Duncan.

"What?" he asked incredulously.

"Get out of my house. You heard me, if you have a problem with Veronica.. you leave. In fact if you have a problem with Veronica you are pretty much dead to me" Logan said firmly.

"Come on man.."

"So I don't know.. Just evaporate or something?" Logan replied. "That's kind of a general invitation… if you don't like my girlfriend then head for the big rectangle with the knob" he declared loudly as he felt her stiffen beside him and she looked directly at Duncan.

 _Had he just made a big mistake? They hadn't exactly spoken about this yet…_

He followed her gaze and saw Duncan let go of Meg's hand he walked straight out the door.

"Listen Duncan.. wait…I wanted to…" he pleaded but he didn't stop.

 _I wanted to tell you… but how could I? We both love her…._

He felt relieved when Veronica didn't chase Duncan outside, she ventured into the lions den and went to talk to Meg for a moment while Logan stared helplessly after his friend. _Could he really blame him for this?_

"Thank's dad" he said as he walked into the kitchen. He would appease him, if only because he wanted to make sure he didn't end up getting grounded after this. He said hello to a few people and waited until the coast was clear so he could sneak Veronica unnoticed out of the main house and into the guest room beside the pool.

 _Veronica… his girlfriend._

"Now see? Why can't it just be like this?" he mused as he kissed her. "Why do there have to be all those other people in this world?" he said as he pulled her closer to the bed.

"What are you doing?" she giggled.

"You are too short.. I need to level the playing field…" he told her between kisses as he sat back onto the bed.

 _Now he was at her complete mercy._

"Is this where you take all your conquests?" she teased as he took off her jacket. _Her skin was so soft…_ truthfully, he never came in here. This was his dad's 'entertaining' room. He brought his agents and reporters in here to chat business over dirty martini's. It was just far enough away from the main house that no one would come looking for them.

She was straddling his hips and every cell in his body felt like it was on fire, he lay back and folded his hands above his head so he couldn't undress her like he wanted to.

"Nope.. just the short ones" he laughed as she began to nibble at his ear.

 _Marshmallows and promises… she smelled so good…_

He didn't deserve to touch her until he confessed, he thought guiltily.

"I have to tell you something…" he admitted.

"Nope… we are into full make out… no more confessional portion of this evening" she disagreed as she kissed him hungrily. He could feel himself begin to grow larger as the heat of her body aroused him.

"Stop.. " he pleaded as he dodge her kisses. "I gotta… I have to tell you something about Shellys party…" he confessed.

"I know about the salt like… I'm going to choose to think of it as one of those not real things" she said softly. _If only that's the worst of what he had done that night…_

"There's more…" Logan told her nervously and Veronica felt anxious.. did she really want to hear this? "I slipped some liquid x into Duncan's drink after he stopped us… I just wanted him to have some fun" he told her. _I never wanted to hurt you…_ "He'd barely even smiled since Lilly…" he confessed.

"You didn't know what would happen" she said forgivingly.

"I'm the one that's responsible… and I can't take that I hurt you like that… I can't take that you got hurt when all I wanna do is protect you…" he told her passionately. _I love you Veronica._

She responded by cupping his face and kissing him.

 _She doesn't blame me…_

"I want you to trust me" he whispered. _I want you to love me.._

"I do" she told him earnestly and he reached his arms around her and they kissed, she was kind of grinding against him, her legs straddling his waist. _She's so close…_

His body was fighting him for control now, he had dreamed of her being with him like this… had imagined that tight warmth sheathed around him so many times. He needed a little distance to regain his composure.. he didn't want to rush her into anything.

"I don't know about you but I could use a refreshment about now" he sighed and she nodded in agreement but lay down happily on the bed, waiting expectantly.

 _Whew… were they really going to do this?_ He gasped as he stood up and got the small screwdriver to the air vent he had stashed in the bedside drawer.

"You learned that from Lilly" she smiled.

"No.. Lilly learned that from me" he corrected her. How else would you be able to keep a journal with a man like Aaron Echolls around? He thought as he inserted the key into the lock, it was stuck.

"It's kind of endearing I need a key to the liquor cabinet huh?" he said as he tried to give it a little twist.

 _What the hell? Oh no…_ it had broken off in the lock. He would have to ask Angelo the handy man guy to replace it in the morning. He was really nervous. Lilly had been a year older than him and he had loved her completely but she been in a hurry to experience everything as fast as possible; she had used him as an experimental sex plaything for almost all of the two years they had been together. He knew he was skilled at what he was doing and there had been countless girls since her death… but this is the first time it was really going to _mean_ something since Lilly. Veronica hadn't been with anyone but Duncan.. and she didn't even remember it.

"Swell huh?" Logan mused, embarrassed. "I'll be right back" he promised as he turned and gave her a quick kiss. "Two minutes" he said laying her back down onto the bed and going to get them a drink.

 _Christ his heart was racing._ He grabbed a bottle of champagne and snuck some snacks into his pocket encase she was hungry. _Don't say something stupid… it's too soon to tell her you love her…_

Getting back to her would have happened a lot faster had Luke and Natasha not cornered him on the way out again to tell him about Duncan smashing up his car. He had gone outside briefly to check on it, the car was still there but Todd and Lizzie had already driven Meg and Duncan home.

Logan would have to deal with this tomorrow… but right now he was finally getting exactly what he had wanted for the last few weeks. Some alone time with Veronica. He carried the glasses back across the garden to the bedroom where his girlfriend was waiting.

 _His girlfriend._ God those words made him ridiculously happy.

"They said these are sugar free but I don't know" he said as he tried not to trip over the little step on the way into the door. "Veronica?" he asked nervously as he went and checked the en-suite bathroom.

 _Had she went into the house to look for him?_

Logan raced across into the party again and went to check his bedroom.

"Have you seen Veronica?" he asked Trina who was busy flirting with Dennis, a footballer jock from his Economics class.

"Lose your girlfriend already?" Dick slurred drunkenly.

"Maybe she headed to that big rectangle with the knob after Duncan?" Madison suggested.

 _Had she heard about Duncan smashing up his car?_

His heart sank when he realised that she wasn't there, or in the garden and she hadn't went back to the guest room.

 _She was gone._


	26. Chapter 26

Logan had tried calling Duncan the following morning but all he had received was an angry voicemail calling him a traitorous bastard and that he didn't want to speak to him, even Dick was still angry with him after that little stunt at the party.

 _Perhaps he had chosen the wrong week to fake an illness last week?_ He thought miserably he stood beside his locker.

"You really are a full fledged jackass… and I am over it!" Duncan had spat on Monday morning when Logan had tried to approach him before storming off.

Veronica had dodged his calls as well and Luke told him he had saw her leave his house on the back of Weevil's motorcycle. Jealousy and paranoia weren't attractive qualities in a guy and he was fighting the impulse to throw him against the locker and demand to know what he had been doing there.

 _She's avoiding me…_

The thoughts had been consuming him until he saw the newspaper headlines in the Tribune.

 _Abel Koontz Innocent of Lilly Kane Slaying._

The article went on to explain how he had been with a prostitute at the time of the murder and had accepted a bribe to provide a false confession. They had to be someone with access to the house to provide the false evidence as shown in the pictures. Someone had paid him off.

Someone with the means and influence to do so.

He really wanted to talk to Veronica about this. Her investigation.. she would have known more about this than anyone but when he saw her walking down the corridor with Wallace Fennell but before he could even so much as wave at her she had dragged him into the bathroom.

 _Please talk to me…_ he didn't want to beg but he was getting desperate.

He couldn't talk to Duncan about it because his parents had kept him home the day the story broke. Veronica was still avoiding him and his father had decided to stop the Mr Perfect Daddy routine and had yelled at him this morning over having read his newspaper before him.

If it wasn't Abel Koontz.. then someone else had murdered Lilly, someone else was still walking around out there free and Veronica wasn't letting him be near her. The only thing that made sense was that the Kane's had paid to cover up Lilly's murder, their own daughter, and the only reason that would make sense to him was that they had done it to protect Duncan.

It was only after seeing the article that Dick and Beaver reassured him that they would be taking his secret with them to the grave.

"Thanks man" Logan said quietly at lunch.

"Bro's over Hoes" Dick said pointedly before taking a slice of pizza and headed back towards his girlfriend Madison.

 _No risk there… the girl I love doesn't even acknowledge I exist_ … Logan thought miserably as he watched Veronica escaping towards her car with Wallace.

He had put his heart out there… and she had stomped all over it.

 _She wouldn't even explain why._

It was the third day of it and he didn't have the strength try and attempt to ask her again when he caught her standing in the hallway and their eyes met. At least when she was avoiding him.. he could hold onto the deluded hope that he still had a chance.

 _If she broke up with him…_ he thought glumly breaking eye contact, he couldn't take the rejection directly so he started to rifle through his locker, trying to force his feet not to move.

"Hey…" she smiled shyly as she walked towards him.

He checked over his other shoulder to check she wasn't talking to someone else.

"Oh.. I exist?" He smiled weakly. "I thought I felt different today"

"I've been avoiding you…" she admitted. _Yes, but why? Why did you leave me?_

"Really? I hadn't noticed" he joked.

 _Keep it light…_

"I'm sorry.. I freaked out.." she confessed. "That night in the guest room… it's like we were crossing over into something… and I just felt really weird"

 _Had I assumed too much? I rushed things… I'm an idiot…_

"Yeah.." Logan said softly.

"All of a sudden I just started thinking about Lilly.. and about Duncan.. and I started feeling really guilty… and I couldn't deal" she explained.

 _Hello Guilt… my old friend._

"You could've told me" he replied gently. "You could have just said I can't deal… but you bolted…"

 _You left me… and I thought I'd lost you… and then Lilly's killer might still be out there…._

"And you dodged me… for a couple of days.." Logan told her.

 _And I almost lost my damn mind…_

"It's what I do" Veronica explained. "When things get out of control.. I need to be alone"

 _And I need to know you are safe…_

"Listen, I am freaked out too.. this whole Abel Koontz thing… knowing what we do about Duncan?" Logan told her.

 _I need to protect you… please don't do that to me again…_

Veronica swallowed hard as she stood in front of Logan as he told her about how he didn't want to suspect his best friend but she couldn't shake the things that Beaver had told her.

 _"He was furious.. ranting about Lilly and how he knew she was seeing someone… so he drove back to Neptune to see her the day she was killed"_

She knew he had a temper, she was just praying that her dad didn't find anything.

"I have this feeling that things are going to get really bad" he sighed.

"Yeah?" she queried.

Logan knew she had been looking into Lilly's murder… if he was innocent.. why would he have lied to her dad about being in Neptune the day she died… unless he had something to do with it?

"Just. Don't run out on me again, okay?" he said. _But was he pleading with her or warning her?_ "If you need to do whatever.. you just let me know" he smiled weakly.

"I need to do whatever" she answered, her throat was getting dry and her heart was thundering in her ears and the hurt look on his face made her pray that Beaver's tip didn't pan out.

 _Please be wrong… because if not the boy I'm falling for is trying to pin this on Duncan…_

"Just for a couple of days" she assured him. "Then I'll be back to normal" she smiled.

 _Then I'll know if you murdered my best friend…_

"Okay… you know where to find me" he sighed as he kissed her on the forehead and left to go to his next class.

"Dad? I just bumped into Logan…" Veronica said as she dialled her dad.

"Honey.. I told you to be careful" he warned.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help it" she apologised, her dad had been on edge about letting her go to school ever since they had found that shot glass listed in the evidence. "Any word on Tijuana?"

"Yeah… He passed by the border at 8.54am the day of the murder" her dad informed her.

"So he had plenty of time to drive back to Neptune and Kill her" she sighed. "He's trying to pin it on Duncan"

"I want you to come straight home" Keith Mars told her.

"Okay.. I'll talk to you soon" she promised.

"These rich boys think they can get away with anything don't they?" Weevil said angrily as he came out of the empty classroom behind her.

"That wasn't what it sounded like.." she denied.

"Sounded to me an awful like Logan killed Lilly" he snarled before he walked away.

 _Unfortunately… he might be right…_ Veronica thought as she felt her heart start to break.


	27. Chapter 27

Logan watched as Veronica averted her gaze and swallowed hard as she stood in front of him.

"I don't want to believe it could have been him" he told her, Duncan had been his best friend since before he could understand the concept. He was Lilly's brother and Logan had always considered him to be family but as much as every part of him wanted to reject the notion… there was nothing else that he could think of other than that Keith Mars had been right and the Kane's had covered up their sons involvement in Lilly's murder. "But it's like the only thing that makes sense, right?" he asked.

She looked a little skittish, like she might bolt at any moment, he really needed her thoughts on this, she was the only person who really knew what he was going through. The grief had been tearing him apart all day and he just wanted her to wrap her arms around him like before.

 _He needed her… he had to tell her soon, if the police started investigating again.. it was all going to come out anyway._

"I don't know" she offered quietly. Maybe he was being selfish in wanting her to talk about it? It had been a rough few days for them both and he knew this was the last thing she probably wanted to think about Duncan after the revelations that they had been intimate together like that.

"I have this feeling that things are going to get really bad" he sighed.

He couldn't explain it, something in the air felt charged, like the world was building for a storm and soon it was going to crash down and swallow them whole.

"Yeah?" Veronica asked quietly.

 _I feel like I did the day Lilly died… like I'm about to lose the only thing in the world that matters to me… skip school with me… let's go somewhere far away from here and just let me be with you._

Logan knew just from looking into her eyes that now was not the right time to ask. She had barely even touched him…

 _Please don't leave me Veronica…_

"Just... Don't run out on me again, okay?" he said. "If you need to do whatever.. you just let me know" he smiled weakly. _I'll wait for you… just please don't break my heart…_

"I need to do whatever" she answered, and he felt like she had just stabbed him in the heart.

 _Okay Echoll's keep it light… she need's space… she hasn't dumped you.. she just needs some time._

"Just for a couple of days" she assured him.

 _Days?_ He thought miserably.

"Then I'll be back to normal" she smiled.

"Okay… you know where to find me" he agreed sadly as he kissed her on the forehead, he wanted to wrap his arms around her and plead with her not to take too long… this distance he felt between them was driving him crazy.

He gave her one last look and headed off to his next class.

His mind kept replaying the scenes of Lilly's body on the ground, blood and bones broken up one side of her beautiful face and how catatonic Duncan had been in the days after her death, of the funeral. He hadn't been there in person, he had just seen the crime scene video, but even then, he could have sworn he could taste the metallic scent of the blood in the back of his throat. Duncan had been withdrawn for weeks after that day and Logan had assumed it was because of the shock but had it been guilt?

He knew Lilly felt her parents always loved Duncan more than her but would a parent really protect the killer of their daughter even if it was their own son? _Of course they would._ If it had been Duncan.. it wouldn't have been his fault, he had that weird kind of epilepsy.

 _Is that why Duncan Kane had been so withdrawn this year? Had he killed his only sister?_ He couldn't stop the scene from changing to a version of Veronica laying there instead, he would have to try and keep Duncan away from Veronica until they could be sure… if she would let him.

Mr Daniels had reprimanded him several times because he wasn't paying attention. He was re-reading the same article he had taken from the newspaper again until he had tried to confiscate it and written him a note to leave early, he had just been passing through to get to his car when he was approached by Deputy Briar and Deputy Sacks.

"Mr Echoll's? We would like you to come with us please" Sacks said.

"Is there a problem officer?" he asked, grateful that at least out here, no one would see him being driven away in a police vehicle.

"We just need to ask you some questions down here at the Sheriff's station" Sacks explained and Logan followed them into the car.

 _He was just being paranoid… this was routine. There is no way they would know anything about Mexico._ Logan was taken into the small stuffy interrogation room and he was soon joined by Sheriff Lamb.

"You said you were in Mexico the day of the murder… you lied. WHY?" he demanded, his finger tapping on the desk with every word. The man was a joke. Logan could see that now, Keith Mars was the real crime fighting professional, this was just the hack who had fallen for that planted Evidence. The asshole who had let Lilly Kane's killer walk around free for almost the last year and a half.

"How many episodes of NYPD Blue did you have to watch to get that finger tapping thing down?" Logan mocked. When backed into a corner… sarcasm and anger were his default setting, and right now, he was spooked.

 _How the hell did Lamb know about Mexico?_

"We take this to the grave man, promise" Dick had told him. He didn't doubt that, so how had they found out? It didn't matter. His father was going to be sending his lawyer soon.

 _And then Logan would have to go home and face his father…._ He thought with a shiver of fear.

By now Veronica would know he had been arrested, he had to talk to her, she had to know this was all a misunderstanding.

"I asked you a question" Lamb snapped.

"And I ignored it and moved on" Logan retorted. "Keep up" he said snapping his fingers.

This guy didn't scare him… what was going to happen when he got home and had to try to explain this to his dad… that scared him.

"Do I look like I am playing around with you?" Lamb demanded.

"What about that phone call?" Logan asked impatiently. "What's the matter? Didn't you read the manual? I get a phone call.. it's the law"

"What does it matter? Your _daddy_ is already sending your lawyer" the Sheriff sneered.

Logan waved his phone sarcastically… he needed to hear her voice, needed something to tether him down and stop this swell of panic.

"Go ahead" Lamb sighed.

He got out of his chair and turned so Lamb couldn't see the pensive expression on his face.

"Hello?" Veronica answered.

"Hey.. it's me" Logan smiled in relief. "I'm in kind of a jam.." _and I really need you to do that Sexy Sleuth thing you do and ask Dick why… he will explain when he knows where I am._ "I'm at our lovely Sheriff's department, being grilled without representation I might add. Do you think you go track down my father? Work some of that Veronica Magic that gets people out of these things?" he asked.

"Yeah… I'll see what I can do" she said quietly and something in him eased. _She was on the case…_

"Thanks… I'll talk to you later" he told her _. And I'll explain everything…_

Logan turned to see Sheriff Lamb biting back a grin, damn Logan really wanted to punch all of those pristine perfect teeth down the back of his throat.

"You called Veronica Mars for help?" he sniggered.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Logan asked _. At least she would have a chance at solving this case, you hack._

"Nothing.. it's just funny… you see…" Lamb said in satisfaction. "She is the one who came to me with information about you" he informed him.

The words were still ringing in his ears as he slumped against the wall.

 _What?_ Logan felt the room shrink away from him, something twisted uncomfortably in his gut as he fell under the weight of Lamb's ice cold blue stare.

 _Veronica was the reason he had been arrested?_

 _Did she know about Mexico?_

 _Had she been playing with him this entire time to get information for her investigation?_

 _Oh god…. Did she think he had been the one to kill Lilly?_

Logan slumped back into his chair and tried not to pass out.

 _Had everything between them just been some twisted game so she could protect Duncan?_


	28. Chapter 28

Veronica stood in her kitchen with the phone in her hand in disbelief.

 _Logan had called her for help?_ Hadn't Lamb told him yet that the information she had given her father about him had been the reason he had been arrested in the first place?

Her emotions were warring inside her. She was fighting a battle she didn't know how to win.

Duncan Kane wasn't her half brother, the DNA test her father had shown her had proved it. Keith Mars, the man who had raised her and was indeed her biological dad despite her mother's infidelity. Her parent's had left earlier to get some of her mother's things out of the storage locker she had been using the last few months and to get the boxes of her things out of the small attic in the Mars Investigations Office where they had put them because the small two bedroom apartment had been too small to keep everything.

She kept feeling the sensation of Logan's arms wrapped around her, of his mouth pressed against hers, the feel of his hands cupping her face. The way being around him felt like she was finally stepping into the sunlight, she couldn't reconcile the boy who had broken apart after her friend's death to the point he hadn't thought life was worth living with the violence of the scene she had found that day as Lilly's body lay at her poolside.

Her heart was torn _. When had she fallen for him like this?_

Logan had only shown this kind of interest in her after he had read those files in her laptop… the day she had been drawn into the bomb threat plot before she had tried to clear Norris Clayton, he had been snooping on her computer.

 _Had he seen how close that she had gotten?_

 _What was his plan… get close to her and keep her distracted? Alienate her from Duncan by starting a relationship between the two of them so he wouldn't speak to her?_

She had been stupid enough to fall for it, to believe that the psychotic jackass who had terrorised her for the better part of a year could have really fallen for her?

She couldn't trust anything she knew about him now. _Had his vendetta against her been to try and drive her dad out of town to derail the investigation?_

Veronica sat in her room looking through the files again, _had she missed something? Had they overlooked something?_ Backup started to tear at the small cushion on her bed so she decided it was time to get him outside, get some fresh air and some distance from her mother who had been very clingy since she had gotten back.

"Mom, I am taking Backup out" she said quietly and pulled on her baseball cap.

"Okay honey, dinner is at 7pm" Lianne Mars replied as she stood in the kitchen.

It was still surreal to see her mother here, she hadn't been a part of this piece of her life… this kitchen was the home she had shared with her father, and as glad as she was to have her back. It didn't feel real somehow, her mother just seemed a little out of place as she watched her busy herself around the house, sprucing the place up, making small little changes and Veronica wasn't sure why they bothered her so much. It would get easier, she hoped.

She cranked the radio up and was glad for the change of scenery, an acoustic version of Clara Mae and The SeaDiamonds - "More Than Everything" played and she tried to swallow her guilt of not driving over to the Echolls Estate like Logan had asked.

She missed Lilly more than ever today, she missed the sound of her voice, her reassuring smile.

 _What would she think of all of this?_ Pity she couldn't just pick up the phone or a Ouija board and call her up and ask if she had done the wrong thing. She sobbed quietly in the car for several minutes while Backup looked eagerly out the window and slobbered on the head rest of the seat beside her. She wiped her eyes and tried to pull herself together as he whined and scratched eagerly at the door.

"Come on boy" she said as she put the lead on the pit-bull and took him for a long run across the beach.

Logan had left the Sheriff's Office as soon as his father's lawyer had threatened to sue for defamation and he was glad that the news hadn't been leaked to the press yet. He couldn't go home, not yet so he had called Dick to meet him on the Pier.

"What a bitch!" Dick said as Logan explained that the Sheriff's department would probably want to talk to him soon as well.

"Yeah.." Logan sighed, he was still in denial.

 _How could she have done this to him?_

He loved her and this betrayal was killing him.

"Look Dude.. I'd like to stay but Madison's parents are waiting for me on the boardwalk…" Dick apologised.

"Naw your right.. probably a good idea we don't look like we are colluding or something" Logan agreed as he watched Dick turn and walk away.

"Remember… best to keep all talking about this off of our phones" Beaver reminded him quietly before he fell into step behind his brother.

 _Like any of that would matter when Veronica Mars was trying her best to destroy you?_

He had been about ready to leave to go home when he spotted a familiar petite blond at the far end of the beach with her dog _. Veronica…_

Logan walked down the south side staircase onto the beach and watched until she approached closer to where she had parked her car. _He had to talk to her.. he needed to hear her reasons for himself._

"So I guess we broke up huh?" he demanded as she finally walked in front of him. _Why didn't you just ask me Veronica? I would have explained everything…_

"What do you want me to say Logan?" she said coldly and turned to run away from him back towards her car. _Anything! Since when do you not accuse me of shit to my face?_

"Logan… I'm going to go home and put my head in the oven because I can't go on knowing what a heartless bitch I am!" he suggested as he followed her.

 _Why wouldn't she **look** at him?_

"Something like that?!" he said as he finally got in front of her, blocking her path.

"So you are saying you want me dead?" she accused him as she took a step back, scared.

 _Right this moment as the anger was building inside him at her betrayal, he did. Did she honestly think he could hurt her?_

"YES!" he told her. _How could you do this to me? I love you…_

"One word from me and Backup goes for your throat" she warned.

Really? He would gladly let the pit-bull in front of him maul him to death if it meant he could escape her looking at him like that..

"That what you do boy? You tear out my throat?" he chuckled sadly, getting down to pet the dog.

 _Like your beautiful owner just tore out my heart?_

"Whose a mean killer? Eh? Whose a mean killer?" he sobbed as the dog rolled onto his side for Logan to stroke his belly.

 _What did it matter now anyway?_

"I knew Lilly was seeing someone… it was driving me crazy, the day I drove back to Neptune, I didn't know if I was going to yell at her for treating me like garbage" Logan explained quietly "Or beg her to take me back" he said as he looked up at her pleading.

 _Please don't end things this way with me Veronica… look at me… I am a wreck right now… you know me…_

"And I saw her at the carwash…" he said as he stood up again.

"I didn't see you there…" Veronica commented quietly. _She didn't believe him.. could this day get any worse?_

"Yeah well.. I just parked across the street and watched her… and this feeling came over me I don't know how to describe it…" Logan continued as she kept her eyes on him, her petite hands clutching the lead, still standing far enough away encase she wanted to run.

 _It was the same feeling I had this morning… like my whole world was about to fall apart…_

"I just knew it was over" he explained. _Like the way I feel right now.._ "So I wrote this note to her.. explaining it?"

"Did you give it to her?" Veronica asked _. Ever the little detective… you should go and work for Lamb… he could show you how to finger tap._

"Yeah I left it in her car" Logan told her.

"With the Shot Glass" Veronica prompted.

 _How much did she know? If she had read that letter how could she have accused him of killing Lilly?_

"Yeah, with the shot glass" he agreed glumly. "You know, if you read that letter you would know I would never hurt her"

 _That I would never hurt you… Look at me.. please…_

"Get away from her!" Keith Mars called as he ran across the beach towards them.

 _Her dad? Oh no… please just hear me out Veronica…_

"Get away from her NOW!" the former Sheriff threatened.

He probably had that life-saving gun on him too.

"I just keep thinking things can't get worse…" Logan told her helplessly and he felt like she had punched him in the stomach when he saw how relieved she looked that her dad had shown up.

 _I am not going to win this… she won't listen to me… the girl I love thinks I'm a murderer…_

"You know what? She's all yours.." he said finally as he walked away.

 _She didn't even call after him…_

 _What hell was this?_


	29. Chapter 29

Veronica wanted to call out after him, to ask him about that note, to get him to tell her why he had still lied to the police about why he had said he was still in Mexico with Dick and Beaver but her father had looped his arm around her and taken her home.

"You saying you want me dead?"

Veronica had asked him and he had looked at her with such fury.

"Yes"

She couldn't settle the niggling doubts she had, he had admitted to stalking Lilly and leaving that shot glass in her car, but the evidence list didn't mention anything about the letter he had mentioned. She really wanted to go and see Wallace, but he wasn't really speaking to her after his father had broken up with Alicia, his mother when Lianne Mars had come home.

"Are you sure you didn't find a note in the car?" she asked her dad over dinner.

"No, it was never found" he told her sadly.

"Must we really talk about this at the table?" her mother asked uncomfortably.

Veronica changed the subject to talk about the new recipe for the bolognaise that her mother had made before she retreated back to her room. She watched the videos she had of Lilly on her computer, she had to remind herself why she was doing all of this in the first place.

She would give anything to go back to that day of the two of them dancing around to the Spice Girls in Lilly's room, back to when that hurt look on Logan's face didn't slice through her heart… back to when a part of her didn't suspect Duncan.

"I've got a secret… a good one" Lilly had told her conspiringly on the last day of her life, it was then that Veronica noticed the small air vent above the mirror in Lilly's bedroom.

If Lilly had wanted to keep that break up letter secret… there was only one place Veronica knew for sure she would have hidden it. The air vent in her bedroom. It seemed so obvious to her now.. in the entire year since Lilly's murder, it had never occurred to her to check there.

This doubt wouldn't go away, and if there was even a slight possibility that that note could exonerate Logan? She had to find out for sure.

One way or another… she was breaking into the Kane's house tonight to check those vents.

Logan had spent the last few hours drinking heavily along the boardwalk until the petite dark haired goth bartender shooed him out and she closed the gates.

"Bye Daisy, you drive me crazy!" he said sarcastically as he climbed into his car and she gave him a dirty look. He couldn't go home, he didn't want to go home. His father had called him several times and left a voicemail about a meeting with the Governor at the Kane's house but he couldn't face Duncan right now.

He didn't want to do much more than curl up beside Lilly's grave and cry, but that was all the way across Neptune in the Kane Family Mausoleum, and that was covered with security the last few days because of morbid reporters trying to get snaps. How could he show his face there?

He drove out to the Coronado Bridge, to the spot where his mother jumped and climbed up on the ledge. He stared out at the water missing his mother more than ever. He could get it now… why she had chosen this place, his mother's favourite animal was a Mermaid. He could almost imagine her soul dancing in the moonlight beneath the waves, the occasional glimpse of her tail as she swam freely through the cool waters. Free at Last.

 _What was the point in going on living?_

His heart had just been obliterated… the crap pile that been his life had just eclipsed the only bit of sunlight he had found in the year and a half since Lilly's death.

 _Veronica had broken up with him… and that hurt more than he ever wanted to admit… had he mattered to her at all?_

This love he felt had twisted until it felt like he was being torn apart from the inside.

 _She had accused him of killing Lilly._

Reality Veronica sucked… she was a bitch.. she had taken his heart and stomped on it…

He would drink until his Fantasy Veronica came back… until he could wrap himself up in her arms she would tell him that she loved him and then he would let the waves take him.


	30. Chapter 30

Aaron Echoll's watched quietly from the closet at Duncan grabbed the petite intruder in Lilly's bedroom he had ducked into whenever he had heard that tray fall in the hallway outside.

"Who the hell are you?" he watched Duncan demand angrily as he hauled her off the small chair.

"Duncan.. Duncan its me!" she had declared as the dark curly hair was pulled away to reveal the short blond girl, Veronica Mars. The one who had been responsible for him having to be here at all when she had reported his son to the police and he had had to try and find those tapes himself.

"What are you doing here?" Duncan demanded.

"I'm looking for something" she explained as she pulled off the glasses she was wearing.

"Well shouldn't you be looking in MY room?" he asked sarcastically grabbing her arm. "I mean isn't that where all the clues would be?" He pulled her closer and she yelped in pain. "Yeah yeah.. Let's go see… maybe I left a confession on my computer?" he snarled.

"Duncan stop!" she pleaded.

"Come on… find out everything!" he continued angrily. "I mean you put on this whole costume and sneak into my house… can't have you leaving empty handed"

"Duncan… calm down!" she told him firmly, yanking her arms from his grip and he stepped back a little. "I don't think you killed Lilly…" she promised. "I-I think Logan did"

 _The little bitch…_ Aaron thought. _If the police investigated Logan… they would discover his secret…_

"What? No… no way…"Duncan denied.

"He wasn't in Mexico the day she died. Dick and Beaver lied for him…" she explained.

 _Really? He would have to talk to his son about this when he got home… right after he dealt with this pesky little tramp._

"He said he left her a note on the day she died that would prove his innocence… I remember she used to hide things in her air vents…" she told him.

 _He was too late…_

He had hidden in the back seat of her car, one thing he could count on teenagers for was that they were secretive. She would go to someone she trusted with those tapes… she would take them home to her father, and sure enough, he had been right.

Killing Lilly had been a momentary thing, a sudden burst of anger and he had just lost it, he hadn't meant to kill her. He had spent the next few weeks tormented, just grateful that the camera was his friend and he made all the right public appearances, it helped that everyone had been too busy looking at his grieving son to even notice him.

He had tried to turn his life around after that, tried to commit to his marriage, end things with his several girlfriends.. and what had that gotten him? Stabbed in the guy at his own Christmas party and a dead wife.

 _Lilly's death had been an accident, but this?_ He thought as he poured the petrol over the top of the small metal box and listened as Veronica Mars screamed and pleaded for her life. This was entirely intentional.

"Where are the tapes?" he demanded.

"Please let me out.." she begged.

 _Oh she wasn't ever getting out… he just wanted to let her think she was. How much air would she have in there anyway?_

"Want to know something about Joan of Ark… Veronica? She thought her death meant something.. burned alive… but just turned out she had a brain tumour" he snarled over the small radio.

"What a waste" he told her.

"They are on the roof…" she pleaded, and he turned to see that there was something small and plastic up there.

"Where are the rest of them?" he demanded after he got the only one he could find. "Do you really think… I am going to let a 17 year old piece of ASS ruin my life?"

Keith Mars had surprised him, but years of stunts and fighting scenes meant he was able to get the upper hand long enough to throw a small lighter at the waiting pools of petrol.

 _Distract him long enough to escape… burn the whole thing down…_ he thought as he ran from the house towards Keith's parked car. He would have gotten away if it hadn't been for the pit-bull he hadn't noticed snarling in the back, by the time he had shaken himself free, he had been hit by an on-coming Vehicle pleading for help whe Veronica Mars was standing over him pointing her fathers gun in his face.

"Call 911, we need an ambulance, the police and the fire department" she told the driver of the car calmly.

 _Pesky little bitch…_


	31. Chapter 31

Logan thought he had woken up in his garden on the hard cold slabs at first, certain that his father had beaten him for being arrested, the pain in his head was making him feel sick. Disoriented he felt something hard and sticky in his hands, he felt like his cheek bone was broken… that's when he knew something wasn't right, his father never hit him in the face. He would break his wrists, burn him with cigarettes and dislocate his fingers, but he never wanted to ruin his pictures.

He opened his eyes to see the glaring headlights of a vehicle in front of him, he was grateful for the alcohol in his system, it helped to numb some of the pain of what he was sure were broken ribs.

 _Where was he?_

His eyes re-focused to see an outline of someone just beside him laying on the ground, there was the unmistakable smell of blood.

 _Blood? Is that what coated his hand?_

"Just stay still… the ambulance is on it's way" a calm voice said.

 _Ambulance?_

"Why don't you do me a favour and drop that knife?" the stranger asked carefully.

 _Knife?_

Logan blinked a few times and felt like he was going to throw up as he looked ahead of him at the body of his classmate Felix Toomes lying motionless on the ground just yards from him.

Weevil had been here… and several other PCHers…. They had dragged Logan to the floor after he had kicked Eli Navarro in the head, knocking him out and he had been too intoxicated to really fight back as they beaten him until the blackness swallowed him whole.

Panicked he climbed to his feet, looking at the man in front of him in horror before throwing the knife into the water and grabbing his stuff from the side of the road and getting into his car and driving away.

 _What had happened on that bridge? Was Felix dead?_

It wasn't until he had pulled over at the side of the road near the high school to process what had happened that the first news report came in over the radio.

Latoya Alonso's sultry voice spoke quickly about the latest breaking development in the Lilly Kane murder investigation.

 _Former Sheriff Keith Mars has apprehended Aaron Echoll's Movie Star in his involvement with the death of Lilly Kane, local reports say that Echoll's has been arrested and charged with murder. More on this when we speak to Sheriff Lamb after this news from our sponsors, stay tuned you are listening to CPKW 97.4_

 _His Dad? Did his father kill Lilly? All this time he had been blaming Keith Mars for trying to destroy the Kane family… he had spent so long punishing Veronica for the sins of her father…. when it had been his own?_

Logan felt all the air being sucked out of the car and he trembled. Even as his mind initially tried to reject the idea, a part of him deep down knew it was the truth… a part of him that had probably always known… always suspected… The monster in his nightmares.. the big bad wolf who had ruined his best friends life… had murdered the girl he loved?

 _Veronica had been right.. Lilly was dead.. and it was all Logan's fault._

"Keith Mars has been rushed to hospital after his injuries.. we will update you more after we have had time to put together all the facts.. thank you very much for your patience in this matter… now kindly… go home" Sheriff Lamb had told reporters.

 _Go home…._ Logan thought.

 _There's only one place in the world that ever felt like home to him anymore and as he waited outside her door, he prayed that she wouldn't just send him away._

Veronica woke to the sound of a small knock at her door, her mother was gone, she had sent her away and she was grateful that Alicia had come over to the hospital to stay with her father when he woke up. She was exhausted, she was tired and she was just grateful that the pain from the bruise in her cheek reminded her that she was still alive to feel the pain.

She tried to quell the paranoia that Aaron Echolls had somehow escaped police custody and hadn't come back to finish the job.

Those twenty three minutes of being trapped in that fridge, the flames engulfing the outside as she screamed for help were going to haunt her in the months to come. She couldn't die like that… not when she still had so much left that she had to make right.

She knew the memories would come back to her in her nightmares… and yet she didn't care right now as she saw the familiar outline of Logan Echolls standing outside her door, she had never been more glad to see him.

"I was hoping it would be you" she said weakly.

"Hey Veronica…" he winced in pain before he lost his strength and collapsed bleeding into her arms.


	32. Chapter 32

Watching Deputy Leo arrest Logan Echoll's as she stood in her doorway had never made her feel so powerless. She had finally caught Lilly Kane's murderer, the bloodshed and death in her life was supposed to be over, but as she watched Logan being helped to the doorway with those unnecessary cuffs on his wrists as he struggled to stand properly and Deputy Ryan's helped Leo pack him into the back of the car.

Veronica Mars knew it was just the beginning.

The respite after the fire that had almost roasted her alive had destroyed her favourite pair of shoes so she had pulled on a small pair of converse trainers and followed behind them in her fathers car. Her own car was still half wrapped around a lamp post someplace on the way back into the 04 area code as you left the Kane estate.

She waited outside the hospital ward where the Sheriff's department had taken Logan to have his injuries assessed. Five broken ribs and a concussion. He was lucky to be alive… and it had all been her fault. _Why hadn't she warned him on the beach that Weevil had overheard her on the phone earlier that day before he had been arrested?_

"No talking to the suspect" Sheriff Lamb snarled and ordered Deputy Briar to keep her away from him until further questioning.

The ward was being flooded by story hungry journalist incensed by the news that not only had Aaron Echoll's been arrested for the brutal slaying of teenage sweetheart Lilly Kane but that his own son was following in his footsteps and had murdered one of his own classmates the same evening.

It was lies of course… she had had her doubts of his innocence when Lilly had been murdered but she had been trying to think clinically about it… she couldn't let herself be swayed by sentiment if she had been planning on catching the killer of her best friend. Even if it had turned out to be the boy she loved.

He didn't do this, she knew it with every fibre in her being. She had been stupid not to trust her instincts about him the first time, she had let fear drive her actions that day. She wasn't going to fail him again… not now.

"Sacks.. please… two minutes" she begged her blue eyes wide and pleading as the shift finally changed. Sheriff Lamb was too busy interrogating Aaron Echoll's and questioning Jake Kane for obstruction to find out if Veronica had seen Logan. She had been waiting for hours.

"Fine.. but that's all you get… I need this job" he told her firmly.

"Logan?" she said softly as she slipped her hand into his.

He was a mess and the sight of him lying there so broken tore her apart.

"Hey you…" he said in relief, tightening his hand around her fingers.

"I'd ask you how you are feeling… but that's a dumb question… do you need anything?" she asked as she tried not to give into her tears.

"You…" he told her quietly, his chocolate brown eyes bore into hers.

"Then I'm right here… I'm not going anywhere" she promised. _He looked so lost and helpless. He couldn't even cry without his broken ribs hurting him._

"It's my fault… Lilly…." He sobbed.

"Don't do that.. put the blame where it belongs Logan" she told him as she leaned forwards and brushed the tears away from his cheek and kissed him.

 _They would get through this.. together._

The next few days had consisted of a media circus the press hounded the Mars Office so Veronica had gone to spend the next few days staying with Wallace while her father was in hospital. Logan was being detained in a secure wing in the hospital and she had barely gotten to speak to him as his high powered lawyers tried to forbid him from speaking to anyone. Eventually though she had managed to slip in when Leo was on duty and bring him some real food.

"Java Juices and a few club sandwiches… there's some snacks in there too" she told him quietly as she slipped into the seat beside him. He gave her a weak smile.

"I missed you…" he whispered as she hugged him carefully.

"I couldn't get in any sooner, your suits are out there defending you from the media circus" she explained as Veronica kissed his forehead sweetly.

"They are sending me to lock up tomorrow" he told her shakily.

"Can they do that?" she asked, worried. "Your injuries?"

 _But of course they could… Logan was 18._

"I'm being sent to the medical unit until the first hearing" he explained. He sounded scared, she would have to consult with Cliff, see what kind of manoeuvres she could suggest. There had to be away around this.

The next several days Veronica heard that most of the staff who worked in the Echolls family estate had quit their jobs because they didn't want to work for such a despicable family capable of such a community splitting horrid crime.

Logan had been heart broken when he had seen the footage of the domestic staff as they called him a vile racist who had always been a trouble maker. The times article with the personal chef in the family Nadia Alonso as she discussed the behind the curtain view of the dysfunctional Echolls family life had hurt him the most.

 _How could she have done this to him?_

"I am going to sue… can you believe they called me a talentless vapid fame hungry diva?" Trina had complained as she stropped around the legal defence room. She was furious but Logan couldn't actually see anything wrong with their description at all _. Didn't she care that her little brother was about to go before a judge accused of murder?_

Neptune had gone insane, most of the town thought that Logan was guilty. He had never felt so under siege… the reporters were everywhere, one had even managed to get himself admitted onto Logan's ward for X rays just to try and get him talking about the case.

The only refuge in all of it had been Veronica who came by nearly every evening after her new job to spend time with him. Even after he was transferred to the prison medical wing, she had come to visit when she was allowed but by that stage her father had been sent home after his injuries and she was trying to help him settle back so he could recover. Duncan wouldn't return his calls.

Veronica Mars… the girl who had taken down a murderous movie star.

The girl he was now irrevocably in love with and he knew it. He had known it since he had collapsed into her arms that this is where he belonged. This thing between them… it was bigger than just him. He had tried to hate her, to forget her after Lilly's murder but the more he had tried to erase her, the deeper she had burrowed inside him. The two of them were bound together now. They were what ballads are written of, it was an unquenchable flame and if she looked into his eyes, she would see the inferno she had thrown him into. He was free falling head over heels for her.

She kept him company, telling him the latest little snippets from her stress at taking the finals, making him laugh and sneaking him little treats in her bag when she could. He would do anything for her if she really wanted him to.

Six weeks after the hearings, he was finally released and he came home to an empty house. Trina had moved out to stay with friends in LA so he was alone, none of the staff had come back and the food that had been in the fridge had gone off. He hadn't even known where to get the cleaning supplies to try and tidy it up.

He had attempted to and failed to hire any staff to replace those who had quit, no one wanted to come to Casa-de-killer and most of the students in his 09 neighbourhood didn't want to hang around with him. Their parent's wouldn't let him come over to their house. In the end he had had to source a very high priced cleaning service who would only visit twice a week. Sunshine Cleaning Services.

"Hey you" Veronica smiled as she greeted him at the lunch table and his heart did it's happy little dance. She was the one good thing to come out of all of this chaos. His whole body felt alive when she was around, it was just the two of them against the world. It was all he needed… that and a lot of cold showers… he was doing his best to take his time.. not to rush this.

 _Anything worth doing, was worth doing properly…_

"I was thinking… you wanna get together later? We could go to the Neptune Plaza.. I think the Summer Carnival has that concert on along the boardwalk.. celebrate the last day of Summer Festival?" he asked shyly.

"It's a date" she smiled happily.

They spent the night playing arcade silly games and eating pizza and he held her in his arms as the band played as she smiled contentedly in his arms as they released the fireworks over the boardwalk and she laughed, hugging his arms tighter around herself.

It's then he knew he couldn't hold back anymore… He sat in the back of his car kissing her as he pulled her closer to him. _He wanted to take her home…_

"My dad's probably watching us through a telescope…" she sighed finally, his body ached for her.

"He's probably impressed with your virtue" Logan whispered as they glanced towards the window in the apartment block. _God I want to make love to you…_

"And the telescope is mounted on a rifle.." she joked as she looked at the dashboard clock.

"5 more minutes" Logan joked as he held up his hand as she giggled. "Well, he should feel lucky.. you could be out here with some pretty boy jerk just looking to get laid.." he told her as he tried to capture her lips again.

"Wait.. are you trying to say you aren't pretty?" she said teasingly, running her hand along his stomach under his shirt.

He looked at her blond hair falling down over her shoulders, her pale white top and those big blue eyes that were always baiting him, her lips a little swollen from his eager kisses. _She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen…_

"What I'm trying to say is that I'm in love with you" he told her finally.

This love hadn't just come knocking at his door, it had ripped the door off it's hinges… being a hopeless romantic with a sarcastic mind was exhausting.

 _I'm yours Mars… you have me, all of me… I don't ever want anyone else…_

She smiled at him as a small rush of colour flooded her cheeks.

"The things guys will say to get past second base." Veronica teased.

 _Okay… make me work for it Mars.. but one of these days… you are going to tell me… and I am going to get this shirt of yours on my bedroom floor…_ he thought happily.

Logan thought as he cupped her face and curled his arm around her back, laying her down against the back seat. _Had there ever been a more perfect moment in his life?_ He thought as she lay there pressed against him.


End file.
